How good was Reiss Nelson in Sydney?

Reiss Nelson paused a while before giving his answer. “I’ll probably say 80,000, yeah!” he eventually decided.

 

He’d been asked what makes him more nervous - singing an initiation song in front of his teammates or playing in front of a huge crowd as he did in Sydney on Thursday.

In truth, it seems neither particularly bothers him. Nelson felt good about his singing performance in the hotel and took his chance with aplomb at the ANZ Stadium where a huge crowd witnessed a display of pace, touch, movement and assertiveness.

“I’m really happy, more happy with the performance and so excited that I got on and showed what I can do,” Nelson told Arsenal.com. 

“The boss put me there [at wing back], I think for the last week or so now. I’ve got used to it now and have just had to adapt to that. It’s not my normal position but I don’t mind at the moment.

“The role is up and down. You’ve got to be very clever when you attack, knowing when to attack and when to defend, knowing when to tuck in.”

For someone in the first week of his first tour, Nelson has settled fast. “It’s really good, I’m really excited,” he said. “The fans have been great and hopefully I go on many more.

“Sometimes it helps having other young players around. But I think the senior ones help me a lot as well, so it’s been really good.”

So how about that initiation song? A tradition for new players, Nelson ganged up with two other tour debutants to perform in front of the squad.

“Yeah, I did do it, unfortunately, on the first night - me, Eddie [Nketiah] and Joe [Willock] sang ‘One Dance’ by Drake. I was the best so far, so it’s alright!”