Although Arsenal were able to achieve a crucial win at Brentford yesterday, Alan Shearer still had some concerns going forwards.
Shearer was speaking on the BBC’s Match of the Day and was unimpressed by Arsenal duo Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus.
The pundit acknowledged that Brentford were tough to play against, but still thought both strikers should do better.
Shearer said: “Jesus, who didn’t have his best game, and Nketiah too, to come on.
“There’s definitely room for improvement, they’re tough to play against [Brentford], they don’t give much away, do they.
“So when you look at the different aspects of their play, and that’s one thing they can without doubt improve on, is in forward areas.”
Of course, Arsenal’s options up front are now often scrutinised given January links to Ivan Toney.
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Both Nketiah and Jesus have had questions raised over their goalscoring, issues that were pertinent again yesterday.
And although Brentford did set up to be compact and leave little space, it felt like a game that needed a target man.
Alan Shearer wasn’t impressed with Arsenal duo Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus vs Brentford
This opinion from Shearer is particularly interesting given other comments he made yesterday.
Shearer was amazed with Brighton Hove Albion’s Evan Ferguson, a player who has been linked with Arsenal.
Perhaps Ferguson could represent the perfect next step for Mikel Arteta’s side, however a price tag close to £100m would be an issue.
Ivan Toney does look to be the smart move in January, a ready-made difference-maker.
And at this stage of Arteta’s project it does seem about adding the final pieces, much like they did with Declan Rice.
And with Arsenal’s spine now looking so strong, the added firepower of Toney would be so welcome.
Both £45m Jesus and Nketiah shouldn’t be too harshly critiqued for yesterday – Shearer did acknowledge how Brentford set up against Arsenal.
But there is the sense that this Arteta front line is still lacking something.
And whether it’s creativity or just outright goal-scoring, Ivan Toney could probably help with both.