Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)placeholder image
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Arsenal breezed past Spurs with Gunners legend Ian Wright waxing lyrical about one of Mikel Arteta’s star men.
Whilst Liverpool saw all the headlines written about how successful their transfer window had been, Arsenal were quietly going about their business filling gaps in the squad and adding quality where it was needed.
A new number nine was signed in Viktor Gyokeres with many expecting the big Swede to be the difference maker for Mikel Arteta only for another summer aquisition to steal the show and announce himself on the biggest stage in the North London derby.
For £67.5m, the Gunners boss landed one of the best players in the Premier League and a bargain when the £116m and £125m signings of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are considered. Spending wisely has always been more important that spending more.
Ian Wright wowed by Eberechi Eze’s Arsenal display
Eze was initially deployed in a wide role for Arsenal, however, it is in his preferred no.10 position where he is thriving with a hat-trick against Spurs leaving Highbury legend Ian Wright’s mouth-watering, he told Premier League productions: “When I signed for Arsenal, like I said, me and David Rocastle spoke hours about what it’s like to play Tottenham. I didn’t dream of scoring a hat-trick because that would have been too much; just to get one goal in my first game against Spurs would’ve been great.
“But for him, with everything he has been through, to score a hat-trick on his north London Derby debut. It is amazing. Especially in this season, the season where question marks are still around him as he settled in properly, he’s still trying to find his way in the Arsenal side, and you know, that will just help him. It is the kind of thing he has achieved. I don’t think he’ll realise till this season’s over, hopefully Arsenal would’ve won the league.”
Will Odegaard struggle to get his place back in Arsenal team?
Eze is living the dream and Arteta is finding a way to get the best out of the former Crystal Palace maverick. With Arsenal’s injury list set to improve and forwards like Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke approaching full fitness, there is no reason to shoehorn Eze into a front three.
The double-pivot of Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice is the perfect balance to protect the defence and to also build attacks up from the back which leaves just one available spot in the engine room.
After scoring three goals against Spurs, it suggests that Eze is the one in possession of the jersey with Odegaard facing a fight to get back into the team. With five goals and three assists in 18 appearances, Eze is starting to show that he can add numbers to his overall play. Odegaard meanwhile, has struggled to stay fit this season.
There should always be competition in a title winning squad and Arteta has it in abundance with the club captain now sweating about his place in the team.
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