So what prompted Arsene Wenger to bring on Eddie Nketiah against Norwich, a player with just a handful of first-team minutes under his belt?
The Arsenal manager said in his post-match press conference that the forward’s predatory instincts made him a natural choice when chasing the game.
on what he was thinking from the bench…
We lacked ideas, we lacked a little bit to create clear-cut chances. I was impressed by the defensive performance of Norwich and so you sit there on the bench and think ‘What can we do to be a bit more dangerous?’. It was the occasion where we had to take a big gamble because there was not much time to go and I know that Eddie can score a goal.
on Nketiah’s qualities…
I know that he has character and is not afraid. He smells the combination movements, he can give and go and once a player has that in his game, they have always a chance. The guys who can understand that if they give the ball somewhere and they can get it back and know where to get it back, the quality of reception is a very important quality. I would say the quality of the reception, he has that.
on whether he regretted a lack of senior players on the bench at 1-0 down…
No, I didn’t. The boy Eddie is a good example. I just said that if I had experienced players on the bench, strikers for example, I would certainly in the end have put them on and not Eddie. Here you have no chance to put an experienced player on, so you try to find a young player who can give you a chance. If we speak about Eddie, it is because there was no experienced striker on the bench.
on whether there has been a rule change or whether he could always use a fourth substitute in extra-time…
Yes.
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