What is Ethan Nwaneri’s best position?

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Ethan Nwaneri is a supreme talent with one question hanging over him: where is he best deployed?

The 18-year-old played 37 games for Arsenal last season, starting with cameos as a right-sided attacking midfielder before regular starts on the right wing in the absence of an injured Bukayo Saka. His minutes dropped when Saka and captain Martin Odegaard regained fitness, with attention focusing on how he can fit into Mikel Arteta’s starting line-ups more often next season.

Now with Lee Carsley’s England under-21 squad at the European Championships in Slovakia, Nwaneri has another role.

Carsley played in midfield with Arteta at Everton, but as a coach he is different in the way he sets his teams up. So far this summer, he has played a 4-2-2-2 consisting of two holding midfielders, two attacking midfielders and two forwards.

Nwaneri came off the bench to impress off the right in England’s opening victory over the Czech Republic, but on Sunday night against Slovenia he started as the left-sided attacking midfielder, with Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott on the right.

The sight of Nwaneri on the left was a surprise. He had played in those areas before for club and country, but the past 12 months have seen him perched on the right much more often.

Ethan Nwaneri has generally featured on the right for Arsenal (Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

England needed to wrestle control of the game away from Slovenia, who had a strong start, but once they had, Nwaneri grew into the game. Around the time momentum was shifting, he made a quick dart out wide before stopping in place to lose a marker and then play a one-two with Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento to get up the left touchline. Shortly after, he was coming more central to receive the ball and evading markers with sharp shoulder drops before keeping the ball moving.

The teenager’s moment seemed to come after Jonathan Rowe skinned his marker on the byline and squared the ball to him in the six-yard box, but Nwaneri mistimed his finish. Instead of being a lift-off moment, it was one that characterised the night as the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

Asked post-match what he was looking for from Nwaneri on the left, Carsley said: “Just the balance of receiving the ball in the pocket and giving us width. I thought he did that really well. We all know he can play really effectively on the right hand side, and it’s just another string to his bow if he can play two or three different positions. 

“If you look at the pitch, it probably doesn’t suit dribblers because it was a little bit long and dry. But I thought he was a threat. I love watching him play. Players like that really get you excited when they get the ball because you feel something is going to happen. It just would have been nice if he took that chance for his work rate and the positions he gets in, to finish it off would have been great for him.”

Carsley’s point about the pitch was fair, although the conditions were probably due more to the 30-degree heat rather than a lack of preparation from those at the ground. Even so, starting Nwaneri on the left provided pictures that those who follow Arsenal have not seen in almost a year.

The first real glimpses of Nwaneri starting for Arsenal came on the 2024 US tour, where he played as a left-sided attacking midfielder against Manchester United. That afternoon, he proved he can shine on that side with intelligent play resulting in an assist for Gabriel Jesus at the back post.

Not quite finding the moment to take the Slovenia game to another level, he switched in the second half and played closer to Elliott on the right. His performance was mixed, with some crosses and shots going astray after cutting in. But he did create a good chance for Elliott which was also fluffed.

“Ethan’s one of many in this squad who can create something out of nothing,” Elliott said afterwards. “I thought he played very well today, especially the way he was positive. He created many chances for us and on another day we could have been two, three or four goals up and it’s a different story.”

Before travelling to Slovakia, Nwaneri said no matter where he plays, his intention is to “play forward” and “be positive”. He also spoke of his experience across all attacking positions, an aspect of his game that former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott believes sets him apart.

“The amount of players that play in his position like Saka, Madueke or even Cole Palmer, he’s very different because he can operate in any position across the left, centrally or on the right,” Walcott said.

Nwaneri has often filled in for Bukayo Saka for his club (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

“This will be an interesting dynamic of how he feels next season will go. He’s going to want to play more football, but he’s going to be competing with Saka and Odegaard. He just needs to remember to do the right things.”

Arteta has previously spoken about potentially developing the youngster into a centre-forward because of his finishing ability, but that plan seemed to be one for beyond this upcoming season.

The chance he missed against Slovenia will not be career-defining, even if England now need at least a draw against Germany on Wednesday to qualify for the knockout stage. With a better connection, the mood could be completely different, which is why it is important not to draw conclusions on results alone.

Instead, looking at the positions he picked up could provide a timely reminder of what else he can offer both Arsenal and England moving forward. Rather than viewing Nwaneri through one lens and one lens only, he can give coaches the option of being more creative in the way they set up.

At Arsenal, with a new shirt number, that could be alongside Odegaard and Saka, rather than instead of them.

(Top photo: Tullio Puglia — UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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