'That's what you have to do': Pundit says Arsenal might change formation to suit one player

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Arsenal have an immense amount of talent in their squad at the moment, and it's difficult to get all of these players on the pitch at the same time.

Indeed, Arsenal have so much talent that multiple of Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz has to drop to the bench every week.

Arsenal have something of a crowded attack at the moment, and they may soon have a similar selection headache in the midfield.

Indeed, Ethan Nwaneri is making waves at Arsenal at the moment, and Mikel Arteta may soon want to find a way to get the teenager into the starting XI.

Speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, Adrian Clarke has been discussing how Nwaneri fits into this Arsenal team, and he says that the Gunners may have to change into a 4-1-4-1 formation in order to accommodate the teenager.

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Arsenal could change formation for Ethan Nwaneri

Clarke shared his opinion on Nwaneri and how he fits into this team.

The pundit says that Arsenal may ultimately have to shift into a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Clarke says he'd love to see a holding midfielder alongside Bukayo Saka, Nwaneri, Martin Odegaard, and either Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard in this team.

"He’s electrifying. But you mentioned Odegaard and that’s maybe the most interesting thing of all because that’s probably his natural position. So you say he’s got Odegaard to play with, but theoretically he plays instead of him,” The host said.

He came on for him. I think there is a bigger picture query as to how you play them together. I’m going to look at you, Adrian, and ask what your opinion would be on this?" Clarke was asked.

"Yeah look, it’s a 4-1-4-1 isn’t it? That’s what you have to do. It’s one of Rice, Merino or Partey at the base with Nwaneri and Martin," Clarke said.

"I don’t see him as a wide guy. I mean, he could probably fill in for Saka, I think actually. You know, look at the way he did that step over on Murillo and left him for dead.

"You know, if you put that 10 yards higher up against a fullback, he could absolutely do that. We might have our answer to the Saka back up there, maybe ahead of Sterling, which we thought might be the answer. He could do that.

"But really, I think in terms of starts, I wouldn’t mind seeing, and I’m sure we will at some point, Saka, Odegaard, Nwaneri and sort of Martinelli or Trossard across that attacking midfield behind the striker. In the short term, I think you’ll be more than happy to get 10, 15 here and there. And it just eases the load on Odegaard, doesn’t it?"

Nwaneri is the next Cesc Fabregas

Ethan Nwaneri's rise at Arsenal is very reminiscent of Cesc Fabregas' rise in north London.

Indeed, Nwaneri has been tipped as the next Fabregas recently, and the way he fits into this Arsenal team may be very similar.

Let's not forget, Arsene Wenger completely changed his midfield composition to suit Fabregas.

Before Fabregas, Wenger always utilised two very physical midfield players in the shape of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva – or Emmanuel Petit if you look further back.

However, when Fabregas came through, Wenger had to pivot to a more technical style of play, and Arteta is facing a similar conundrum now.

Arteta has always liked to use two deeper midfield players behind Martin Odegaard, but now, Nwaneri may come in and share that creative workload with Odegaard.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this Arsenal team evolves once Nwaneri is fully developed and ready to start every week.