Banished By Chelsea; Hero In Arsenal. The Story Of Eddie Nketiah

Eddie Nketiah showed exactly how to bounce back from disappointment scoring a double despite coming on in the 84th minute as Arsenal came from behind to beat Norwich City 2-1 in the second round of the Carabao Cup (League Cup) on Tuesday evening. Having been rejected by Chelsea in 2015 for not possessing the physical attributes required to play football at the highest level, it took the young Lewisham born forward just a week of training to earn a scholarship from Arsenal before exploding unto the world scene in an exquisite form on Tuesday by scoring his first senior team goal on his debut with 30 seconds of coming on. 

For those who have followed the 18-year-old closely this did not come as a surprise after he scored 24 goals in his debut season with the U-18 Arsenal side. Though comparism with Thierry Henry will always come up, Nketiah shares only pace and ability to play in any forward position with the Arsenal legend considering the young Englishman is not as skillful and physically imposing as the Frenchman although he appears to have a better centre of gravity. With Arsenal on verge of defeat in the Carabao Cup, Arsene Wenger reminded everyone watching that the famed Arsenal academy can still match the heights of the old successful times when he put on the youngster who repaid the Frenchman's faith in him by latching unto a deflected corner to equalise before adding a second with his pin-point header to wrap up the game and qualify the Gunners for the quarter-final becoming the first player born after Wenger's tenure started to score for the club. 

To illustrate further how sublime the youngster has been , it is worthy of note to state his double hat-trick this year against Qatar and Poland for the Three Lions Under-19. This is not all as the South London born forward scored 15 goals in 16 games for the Arsenal U-18 as well as 12 goals in 26 games for the U-23 before signing his first professional contract last summer (also went with the senior squad for the Asian tour in the summer). 

Despite sitting fifth in the league table , nine points behind leaders Manchester City as well as the possibility of losing star players Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in the summer, a glance at the young talents at Wenger's disposal (Alex Iwobi, Reis's Nelson, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and now Eddie Nketiah might

show Arsenal is on the right path). 

Chelsea's Mitchy Batshuayi Is Premier League's Most Prolific Goals Per Minute Player.

Hauled off and severely criticised after 60 minutes against Crystal Palace last two weeks a game Chelsea lost 2-1, Mitchy Batshuayi is yet to convince many in the English Premiership yet it is surprising to see that he remains the most prolific goalscorer (goals to minutes ratio) in the Premier League history with a goal every 60.06 minutes, a record that bests the likes of Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus (a goal every 88.0 minutes), Alvaro Morata (a goal every 92.02 minutes), Sergio Aguero (a goal every 108 minutes) and Harry Kane (a goal every 115 minutes).

The Belgian might have been Antonio Conte's first signing when he moved to Chelsea from Marseille for £33 million in 2016, yet this record counted for nothing as he failed to start a Premier League game paying second fiddle to both Diego Costa and Eden Hazard all through last season.  With calls for the recall of Tammy Abraham from Swansea in the Winter having seen Batshuayi blow hot and cold , every critic was silenced last weekend after  his 29 minutes impact against Watford which saw his score a double and run the Watford defence haggard despite coming in in the 61st minute.

While Alvaro Morata is a more decent no9 as well as a better finisher and hold-up player despite Batshuayi's big body size , the Spaniard has struggled to handle the physical demands of the EPL as his abysmal games against the likes of Arsenal and Watford have shown , Batshuayi has become a big game player scoring vital goals against the likes of Athletico Madrid and Watford this season. With only 12 starts in all competitions (three Chelsea league starts) , the former Marseille striker has failed to shine when given the rare opportunity of starting (against Burnley, Crystal Palace etc), which maps him out as a backup striker rather than a starter. To illustrate better only, Arsenal's Oliver Giroud has scored more goals (seven) from the bench since Batshuayi's (six goals) signing last season. In total, the Belgian has played 1050 minutes for Chelsea scoring 16 times which represents a goal every 65 minutes across all competitions since his signing which is impressive given he needs far less time to make an impact.

For now, Chelsea will have to make sure the "Batsman" continues his goalscoring form if they are to challenge for the league title as they sit fourth in the table nine points nine points behind leaders Manchester City.

Was Ronald Koeman's Sacking by Everton Justified?

Ronald Koeman might be the highest goalscoring defender in European football history having scored a whopping 193 goals in 535 league games for the likes of Ajax and Barcelona yet this did little to halt his sacking on Monday by Everton after the 5-2 home loss to Arsenal.

Despite finishing seventh last season and qualifying for the Europa League as well as giving Manchester City's Pep Guardiola  his heaviest career beating 4-0 , the former Ajax manager has lost his three group stage Europa League games this season as well as winning just two  league games thus far. So where did it all go wrong for the Dutchman?

With Everton sitting 18th in the league (relegation) having the third worst defensive record (conceded 18 goals already in nine League games ), it is not difficult to pin-point  Koeman's failure on his inability to sign a proven goalscorer to adequately replace Belgian Romelu Lukaku who scored 25 goals under the Dutchman's reign (one-year). Having amassed over £75 million from Lukaku's sale to Manchester United, Koeman decided to plan for the future completing ignoring the present placing his faith on aging  Wayne Rooney to shoulder goalscoring responsibilities  as  well as signing an unknown Henry Onyekuru from Eupen (sent on loan to Anderlecht  where he has scored  six goals in nine  league games this season) as in addition to the signing of Sandro Ramires (Malaga), two players who have never managed double figures in their careers.  With that in mind , the Dutchman  as well bizzarely signed three familiar players who play in the same position in excess of £55million (Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Rooney and Davvy Klaassen) call it anything you like. In total More than eight new players arrived Goodison Park this season with over £145 million spent on their signings yet all with the exception of Jordan Pickford have been abysmal to say the least.

Since his appointment, the Dutchman has done little to warm himself to the hearts of the Merseyside blues rather treating his job as a stepping stone to his Barcelona dream job at one point decorating his Christmas tree with red rather than the traditional Everton blue colour and never dismissing rumours linking him to the Catalan club.
This is not to say that the Dutchman performed badly in Merseyside having helped shape a youthful side with the promotion of the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tom Davies, Hankow Kenny all becoming senior team regulars as well as the signings of the likes of Ademola Lukeman and Nikola Vlasic with the future looking bright yet it is on record that havjng spend such sum on player signings this season, Everton deserve better than the present results which justifies his sacking to an extent.

With more than 28 league games to go, Everton will be hoping the incoming manager which will soon be announced will banish the ghosts of Ronald Koeman by constantly challenging for a top four a well as ending thier 25 years wait for silverware. For now , Ronald Koeman will look backwards to the last summer and realise how he lost the season before it even started.