Mikel Arteta says Eberechi Eze\u2019s standout north London derby performance grew from a clear commitment in training after the November break. Eze, who joined for \u00a367 million ($87.6 million) over the summer, had struggled for a consistent role while adapting to multiple positions amid injuries in the squad. Arteta believes the derby display was the product of a specific moment in preparation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had two days off after the England camp and after day one he wanted to train,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cHe wanted to come back and improve and ask questions. When you have such a talent and such intelligence and then you add that willingness to be better and practise, these things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arteta also spoke about conversations with Thomas Tuchel as part of plans to maximise Eze\u2019s potential. \u201cWhen I spoke to Thomas Tuchel [about Eze] I said, \u2018How good is he?\u2019 He said to me, \u2018One of the best I have seen.\u2019 I rate him one of the best in terms of talent,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cIf we add in now his work-rate, willingness to play for this team and the joy I sense when he is in the building we have a special player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former striker Thierry Henry added pressure on the club captain as competition for places increases. \u201cBy the way, if I was Martin \u00d8degaard… I said it, this guy [Eze] is a [No.] 10 for me, however you want to look at it. He\u2019s not a winger, he\u2019s a 10. He needs to be in the middle of the park and he showed it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eze has been used as a left winger, a left-sided No. 8 and a No. 10 under Arteta. Arsenal appear set to continue with a Declan Rice-Mart\u00edn Zubimendi double pivot, which leaves a single attacking midfield spot available. \u00d8degaard\u2019s injury allowed Eze to operate centrally in the derby.<\/p>\n
Arsenal now face a busy period, with Champions League action against Bayern Munich coming midweek. The Bundesliga leaders arrive unbeaten in 18 games. That match will also see Eze up against former Crystal Palace teammate Michael Olise, who helped Bayern to a 6\u20132 win over SC Freiburg with five goal contributions.<\/p>\n
Stats:
\nEberechi Eze \u2014 Appearances 18, Goals 5, Assists 3
\nMichael Olise \u2014 Appearances 18, Goals 9, Assists 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arteta: Eze’s derby breakthrough came after he returned to training early and raised his work-rate..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1062,172],"tags":[1081,1047,1019],"class_list":["post-4675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-bayern-munich","category-epl","tag-adaptation","tag-champions-league","tag-creative-players"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}