Mikel Arteta described Noni Madueke's opening goal in Arsenal's Champions League win over Club Brugge as a "magic moment" but, as he knows as well as anyone, it did not come from nowhere. It was the result of hours of repetition on the training pitch.
Madueke works exhaustively to hone his game, supplementing his club training with individual work overseen by a personal skills coach whose help he first enlisted some four years ago when seeking to maximise his talent as a teenager at PSV Eindhoven.
Their first sessions took place during the off-season in summer 2021, after which Madueke returned to PSV and scored six goals in his first eight games of the campaign, including a double in the Dutch equivalent of the Community Shield against Ajax.
"I think he was hooked from then," Saul Isaksson-Hurst, the coach in question, explains to Your Site. "It was intensive work and I think he really saw the benefits."
Their sessions together were limited to the summer months during Madueke's time at PSV but they have become more regular since his return to London, first with Chelsea and now with Arsenal, where he has picked up where he left off after a knee injury.
"From my perspective, that's what you want, a player who has talent, but also wants to work hard and wants to improve," adds Isaksson-Hurst. He describes Madueke as a "mentality monster". The winger has made a similar impression at Arsenal.
His £52m move from Chelsea was met with scepticism by some supporters but he won any doubters over quickly.
"That lasted a very short period of time," as Arteta put it recently.
The negativity, the Arsenal manager added, was "like fuel" to him.
Madueke was arguably Arsenal's best performer early in the season, instantly providing a high-calibre alternative to the perennially overworked Bukayo Saka. His return to fitness means Saka's load can now be managed without a steep drop in quality.
Madueke has started two of Arsenal's last three games, with Saka starting one. They have directly contributed to four goals between them during that run. "That is what we want," said Arteta. It is the power of genuine competition for places in action.
"We are playing every three days and players with that freshness and with that bite in the teeth as well, understanding that they have to perform at that level and that this is the standard that we set, is something really good," added Arteta on Wednesday.
The depth Madueke has added to the right side of Arsenal's attack is something they previously lacked but that is not all he has brought. Madueke has work to do to match Saka's consistency in terms of end-product but he has different qualities too.
Many of them were clear to see against Club Brugge, particularly for his first goal, when he drove away from two defenders after picking the ball up in an innocuous position near the halfway line, then crashed home a brilliant finish from long range.
It was another example of the directness that has been talked up by both Arteta and England's Thomas Tuchel. Isaksson-Hurst, meanwhile, highlights a specific detail that sets him apart, one which can be seen in the way he so often escapes defenders.
"If you're any wide player in the Premier League now, you've got to have speed, but speed with the ball is another thing," he explains. "Because a lot of players can run, but Noni is unbelievable in terms of ball-carrying ability at speed.
"He can almost run as fast with the ball as he can without the ball, and that is such a difficult skill to develop. That combination of speed and technique on the ball, and obviously power as well, is very difficult for defenders to deal with."
Madueke did not need to get as far as the opposition box for his opener against Club Brugge. But that is another area in which he excels. Only Manchester City's Jeremy Doku has made more carries into the box per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, according to tracking data from GeniusIQ.
It reflects the threat Madueke provides and it comes back to his preparation, and all the hours of repeating drills on the training pitch with his club and with Isaksson-Hurst independently.
"Everything we do is in and around the box, shooting and finishing practice, or creating opportunities to play forward, whether it's a shot, cross or pass," says Isaksson-Hurst.
"What my methodology is really about is trying to break the game down into those game-changing moments. So, for example, working on movements to break the line and get into the box to create those assists opportunities or, ideally, shots on goal."
The numbers are also a testament to Madueke's relentlessness.
"As a forward player, you've got to be able to get on the ball and make something happen," adds Isaksson-Hurst.
"It won't always come off. Look at Lionel Messi's stats, even he loses the ball. But you've got to be able to go again. That's part of Noni's mentality, and that's what we're seeing from him now."
Arteta laid out the next challenge for Madueke after his man-of-the-match display against Club Brugge. "It's about consistency," he said. "We need to have those standards and play consistently.
"It's not a game, it's two games, three games. Can you do it for 10 games in a row, every three days? That's the level we have to hit."
Madueke was unable to reach that level at former club Chelsea, where Enzo Maresca sometimes questioned the consistency of his application. But he has given Arteta little cause for concern on that front and, on the pitch, recent signs are encouraging.
Madueke has contributed three goals in just 240 minutes of action since returning from injury last month, delivering, in end product, the only thing lacking from his performances earlier this season.
His mission to continue in the same vein depends on regular playing time, so it helps that he is an option on the left-hand side as well as the right. The fine form of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on that side suggests Saka is not the only player benefitting from the increased competition Madueke has introduced.
"I think at this level, if you want to win games, you need individual players to step up and to do something different," added Arteta. Madueke is doing just that. And Arsenal are feeling the benefits.
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