What is Ethan Nwaneri's best position?

伊桑·恩瓦内里的最佳位置是哪里？

By Art de Roché June 16, 2025Updated 5:30 pm GMT+8

Ethan Nwaneri is a supreme talent with one question hanging over him: where is he best deployed?

伊桑·恩瓦内里是一位天赋异禀的球员，但围绕着他始终有一个疑问：他最适合被部署在什么位置？

The 18-year-old played 37 games for Arsenal last season, starting with cameos as a right-sided attacking midfielder before regular starts on the right wing in the absence of an injured Bukayo Saka. His minutes dropped when Saka and captain Martin Odegaard regained fitness, with attention focusing on how he can fit into Mikel Arteta's starting line-ups more often next season.

这位18岁的球员上赛季为阿森纳出场37次，最初是作为右路攻击型中场替补登场，后来在布卡约·萨卡受伤期间，他成为了右翼位置的首发常客。当萨卡和队长马丁·厄德高恢复健康后，他的出场时间减少了。人们的注意力因此转向了他如何在即将到来的新赛季更频繁地进入米克尔·阿尔特塔的首发阵容。

Now, with Lee Carsley's England Under-21 squad at the European Championship in Slovakia, Nwaneri has another role.

如今，随李·卡斯利执教的英格兰U21国家队征战在斯洛伐克举行的欧洲青年锦标赛，恩瓦内里又承担了另一个角色。

Carsley played in midfield with Arteta at Everton, but as a coach, he is different in the way he sets his teams up. So far this summer, he has played a 4-2-2-2 consisting of two holding midfielders, two attacking midfielders and two forwards.

卡斯利球员时代在埃弗顿曾与阿尔特塔搭档中场，但作为教练，他的球队设置方式有所不同。今年夏天至今，他采用了4-2-2-2阵型，包含两名防守型中场、两名攻击型中场和两名前锋。

Nwaneri came off the bench to impress off the right in England's opening victory over the Czech Republic, but on Sunday night against Slovenia, he started as the left-sided attacking midfielder, with Liverpool's Harvey Elliott on the right.

在英格兰首战击败捷克的比赛中，恩瓦内里替补登场，在右路表现抢眼。但在周日晚上对阵斯洛文尼亚的比赛中，他作为左路攻击型中场首发出场，利物浦的哈维·埃利奥特则出现在右路。

The sight of Nwaneri on the left was a surprise. He had played in those areas before for club and country, but the past 12 months have seen him perched on the right much more often.

看到恩瓦内里出现在左路令人意外。他以前在俱乐部和国家队都曾踢过这些位置，但过去12个月里，他更多时候是出现在右路。

England needed to wrestle control of the game away from Slovenia, who had a strong start, but once they had, Nwaneri grew into the game. Around the time momentum was shifting, he made a quick dart out wide before stopping in place to lose a marker and then play a one-two with Newcastle United's Tino Livramento to get up the left touchline. Shortly after, he was coming more central to receive the ball and evading markers with sharp shoulder drops before keeping the ball moving.

英格兰需要从开局强势的斯洛文尼亚手中夺回比赛控制权。一旦他们做到了这一点，恩瓦内里也逐渐融入了比赛。在比赛势头转变之际，他先是突然外扯拉开空间，接着急停摆脱盯防球员，随后与纽卡斯尔联的蒂诺·利夫拉门托完成二过一配合推进到左边线附近。不久之后，他更多地回撤到中路接球，利用快速的沉肩虚晃摆脱防守球员，并保持球权运转。

Nwaneri's moment seemed to come after Jonathan Rowe skinned his marker on the byline and squared the ball to him in the six-yard box, but the teenager mistimed his finish. Instead of being a lift-off moment, it was one that characterised the night as the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

恩瓦内里本应迎来高光时刻：乔纳森·罗在底线附近生吃防守球员后将球横传至六码区找到他，但这名年轻球员的射门时机没有把握好。这非但未能成为点燃激情的瞬间，反而成为了这场最终0-0平局之夜的写照。

Asked post-match what he was looking for from Nwaneri on the left, Carsley said: "Just the balance of receiving the ball in the pocket and giving us width. I thought he did that really well. We all know he can play really effectively on the right-hand side, and it's just another string to his bow if he can play two or three different positions.

赛后被问及他期望恩瓦内里在左路发挥什么作用时，卡斯利表示：“就是在中场‘口袋’区域接球和组织进攻宽度之间的平衡。我认为他做得非常好。我们都知道他在右路可以踢得非常高效。如果他能胜任两三个不同的位置，那对他来说将是锦上添花。”

"If you look at the pitch, it probably doesn't suit dribblers because it was a little bit long and dry. But I thought he was a threat. I love watching him play. Players like that really get you excited when they get the ball because you feel something is going to happen. It just would have been nice if he took that chance for his work rate and the positions he gets in, to finish it off would have been great for him."

“看看这球场，可能不太适合盘带型球员，因为草有点长且干。但我认为他依然构成了威胁。我很喜欢看他踢球。像他这样的球员拿球时真的会让你兴奋起来，因为你觉得总会发生些什么。唯一可惜的是，考虑到他的跑动和跑出的位置，他没能把握住那个机会。如果能将球打进，对他自己来说就太棒了。”

Carsley's point about the pitch was fair, although the conditions were probably due more to the 30-degree heat rather than a lack of preparation from those at the ground. Even so, starting Nwaneri on the left provided pictures that those who follow Arsenal have not seen in almost a year.

卡斯利对球场的评价是合理的，尽管场地条件可能更多是受30摄氏度高温的影响，而非场地管理人员的准备不足。即便如此，让恩瓦内里在左路首发，还是展现出了阿森纳球迷近一年来未曾见过的景象。

The first real glimpses of Nwaneri starting for Arsenal came on the 2024 U.S. tour, where he played as a left-sided attacking midfielder against Manchester United. That afternoon, he proved he could shine on that side with intelligent play resulting in an assist for Gabriel Jesus at the back post.

恩瓦内里首次真正代表阿森纳首发是在2024年的美国季前巡回赛中，当时他在对阵曼联的比赛中担任左路攻击型中场。那个下午，他证明了自己能在左路闪耀，凭借聪明的跑位和传球，为后点的加布里埃尔·热苏斯送出了一次助攻。

Not quite finding the moment to take the Slovenia game to another level, he switched in the second half and played closer to Elliott on the right. His performance was mixed, with some crosses and shots going astray after cutting in. But he did create a good chance for Elliott, which was also fluffed.

在未能找到将斯洛文尼亚比赛提升一个档次的机会后，下半场他换位到右路，与埃利奥特搭档更近。他的表现好坏参半，内切后的一些传中和射门偏离了目标。但他确实为埃利奥特创造了一次绝佳机会，可惜后者同样未能把握住。

"Ethan's one of many in this squad who can create something out of nothing," Elliott said afterwards. "I thought he played very well today, especially the way he was positive. He created many chances for us and on another day, we could have been two, three or four goals up and it's a different story."

“伊桑是这支队伍中众多能够‘无中生有’创造机会的球员之一，”埃利奥特赛后说道。“我认为他今天踢得非常棒，尤其是他那种积极进取的态度。他为我们创造了很多机会，换个日子，我们可能已经领先两、三甚至四球了，那比赛就是另一番景象了。”

Before travelling to Slovakia, Nwaneri said no matter where he plays, his intention is to "play forward" and "be positive". He also spoke of his experience across all attacking positions, an aspect of his game that former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott believes sets him apart.

在前往斯洛伐克之前，恩瓦内里曾表示，无论踢什么位置，他的意图都是“向前进攻”和“保持积极”。他还谈到了自己在所有进攻位置上的经验，前阿森纳和英格兰前锋西奥·沃尔科特认为，这一点让恩瓦内里与众不同。

"The amount of players that play in his position like Saka, (Noni) Madueke or even Cole Palmer, he's very different because he can operate in any position across the left, centrally or on the right," Walcott said.

“和他踢相似位置的球员有很多，像萨卡、马杜埃凯，甚至科尔·帕尔默，但他非常不同，因为他能在左路、中路或右路的任何位置上发挥作用，”沃尔科特说。

"This will be an interesting dynamic of how he feels next season will go. He's going to want to play more football, but he's going to be competing with Saka and Odegaard. He just needs to remember to do the right things."

“下赛季他会如何发展将是一个有趣的看点。他肯定渴望获得更多出场时间，但他将与萨卡和厄德高竞争。他只需要记住做正确的事情。”

Arteta has previously spoken about potentially developing the youngster into a centre-forward because of his finishing ability, but that plan seemed to be one for beyond this upcoming season.

阿尔特塔此前曾提到，鉴于恩瓦内里的终结能力，有可能将其培养成中锋，但这个计划似乎是为下赛季之后的长远打算。

The chance he missed against Slovenia will not be career-defining, even if England now need at least a draw against Germany on Wednesday to guarantee qualification to the knockout stage. With a better connection, the mood could be completely different, which is why it is important not to draw conclusions from results alone.

他错失对阵斯洛文尼亚的机会并不会定义他的职业生涯，尽管英格兰现在需要在周三对阵德国的比赛中至少拿到一场平局才能确保晋级淘汰赛。如果那次射门处理得更好，氛围可能就完全不同了。这就是为什么不能仅凭结果就下结论。

Instead, looking at the positions he picked up could provide a timely reminder of what else he can offer both Arsenal and England moving forward. Rather than viewing Nwaneri through one lens and one lens only, he can give coaches the option of being more creative in the way they set up.

相反，观察他所占据的位置，可以及时地提醒我们他还能为阿森纳和英格兰的未来发展提供些什么。与其只用单一视角看待恩瓦内里，他其实为教练们在战术布置上提供了更具创造性的选择。

At Arsenal, with a new shirt number, that could be alongside Odegaard and Saka, rather than instead of them.

在阿森纳，身披新球衣号码的他，未来更可能是与厄德高和萨卡并肩作战，而非仅仅是他们的替代者。