Eddie Nketiah has now shared an interview after making his Crystal Palace debut on Saturday.
The England international played 90 minutes of the 2-2 draw against Leicester City at the weekend, going close to netting a debut goal with a firmly struck effort in the second half, which flew just narrowly past the bottom left corner.
Crystal Palace fans were impressed by Nketiah on his first appearance – following a £25m move from Arsenal on deadline day – although some complained about Oliver Glasner deploying him on the right.
Now, the 25-year-old has spoken about his positioning against Leicester City, with Jean-Philippe Mateta getting a mention…
What Eddie Nketiah said about Crystal Palace No.14 Jean-Philippe Mateta
By the sounds of it, the new Crystal Palace No.9 felt most comfortable when playing behind Mateta in a No.10 role.
Nketiah told the club’s official website: “Towards the end, when we went 4-4-2, I kind of went just off him (Mateta) in the ten (role). It was good, and I think we looked really dangerous at the end, so hopefully we can grow on it. Not just me and JP, but all of us can combine well and strike up a nice partnership.”
It was – admittedly – odd to see Glasner deploy the man from Lewisham on the right.
Many expected Nketiah to simply play alongside Mateta, with Eberechi Eze in a sole No.10 position, a slight adaption to the 3-4-2-1 shape which saw the Crystal Palace No.10 and Michael Olise cause havoc behind the Frenchman last season.
However, Glasner instead put the Arsenal academy graduate in the precise spot Olise vacated on the right flank to begin with, which looked a little awkward, given the fact Nketiah is right footed and could not cut inside as effectively.
Oliver Glasner will figure it out
We would ideally prefer not to see Nketiah play on the right again, purely because he always seemed more effective either centrally, or when cutting inside on his stronger right foot, at Arsenal.
To support that statement, it is interesting to see that the south Londoner failed to score in ten appearances on the right flank for Arsenal.
Nevertheless, Glasner has already proven his coaching credentials by transforming the likes of Will Hughes and Nathaniel Clyne into viable options for the starting XI, when both looked like they were heading for free agency before the Austrian replaced Roy Hodgson.
Saturday’s draw against the Foxes can also be excused due to the lack of time on the training field for everybody to gel, after the chaos of deadline day and the ensuing international break.
With more time, we are confident that Glasner will get both Nketiah and Mateta firing.
