Arsenal huddle
Arsenal huddle
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Players who struggle to influence a match from the start can find their opportunities reduced once a substitute produces the decisive contribution. A half-time change that leads to the only goal of the game often prompts discussion about long-term roles. Managers who prioritise certain defensive responsibilities in a central position may prefer a different profile for the majority of fixtures.
Comments from former managers can highlight differences between what a player has done previously and what is required in a new system. Starting on the left flank rather than in a more central role can limit the natural strengths of an attacking midfielder. Those observations are framed around the belief that limited minutes in big matches will follow.
Impact from the bench in the final stages is presented as the more realistic pathway once the early start has not worked. The decision to remove the player at half-time is described as the correct one given the lack of influence. The wider point concerns whether regular starting opportunities will materialise under the current setup.
Alan Pardew has said Eberechi Eze will hardly play for Arsenal because he has not made Mikel Arteta comfortable. The former manager spoke to talkSPORT after Eze was replaced at half-time in the 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
“In the way he sets up his No.10, I don’t see Eze getting a lot of action there,” Pardew said. “There’s a real defensive side to that No.10 position he likes that Martin Odegaard does and Eze doesn’t do. I think Arteta doesn’t feel comfortable with that.”
Eze started on the left flank but failed to create a chance and had just one touch in the Forest box. Noni Madueke came on at the interval and scored the winner with a deflected strike in the 80th minute. Pardew believes the role will be limited even further in bigger matches.
“In certain games, against lesser opposition, Eze will be given that No.10 position,” he added. “But I’ve seen him on that left side for Crystal Palace a few times and it’s just not him. He’s never going to go down the left-hand side and whip crosses in, he wants to come and play centrally. He’s going to make the game too narrow and therefore you’ve not got enough width, so it’s a problem. Arteta took him off rightly, in my opinion, as it just wasn’t working.”
Pardew suggested the starting position itself was the issue. “In the first instance, though, perhaps he shouldn’t have started him there, and used him as an impact as a No.10. And I think that will be his role at Arsenal, if they need a goal. I don’t think Eze is going to be a starter for Arsenal, I think he’s a sub and if they need a moment, then the manager can give him the last 10-15 minutes of games.”
The assessment follows Eze’s limited involvement in the Premier League this season. Arteta’s preference for certain qualities in the No.10 role is presented as the main barrier. Whether Eze can alter that view through performances from the bench remains the key question going forward.