The tone of Arsenal’s performance against Newcastle United on Saturday flipped once they lost Kai Havertz and then Eberechi Eze.
It had been a fun performance, with Eze’s personality shining through, but once Havertz went off — and later Eze — it turned into a nervy, transition-heavy affair.
Mikel Arteta said after the match that both players had muscular issues, with Eze telling reporters, “I am OK. It was just precautionary.” But both make Arsenal a more attacking threat, with Eze’s creativity and individualism central.
The team’s performance after his and Havertz’s substitutions was not convincing, but having at least one of the two fit could literally be half the battle going forward. Without Havertz, there are at least the combinations between Eze and Martin Odegaard. Without both, Arsenal regress into playing long balls that inevitably result in opposition attacks.
Against Newcastle, the freedom Eze had to roam was on an even bigger scale than the promising display in Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City last week. At times, he was Arsenal’s deepest midfielder, helping with build-up. At others, he was receiving the ball in the centre circle or just to the right of the D of the opposition box.
Arteta has made a big deal about getting the midfielder around the edge of the box. No Premier League player has scored more goals from outside the box since the start of the 2022-23 season than Eze, and when it comes to breaking a deadlocked game, five of his 10 Arsenal goals have been the first in a match.
Capable of producing magic moments that are often necessary when matches can become rigid, Eze told reporters: “When I’m in positions like that, I try my best to create and be as effective as possible.
“My job is to help the team score goals, to create goals. The more I’m in those positions, the more likely, the more confident I am that things are going to happen. I try to take the responsibility to be the one.”
Arsenal generating an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.49 to Newcastle’s one will not be a surprise given the manner of many of their games this season, but that is why a player like Eze has been needed.
Eze celebrates with Madueke after his goal (Izzy Poles – AMA/Getty Images)
His goal had an xG of 0.03, but you would not know that by looking at the quality of the strike. Over the course of this season, the 27-year-old has scored seven league goals from an xG of four. That xG overperformance is the highest in the Arsenal squad and ranks eighth across the Premier League.
This campaign has not been easy for Eze, though.
While his initial impact on the team was apparent, after failing to track Matty Cash’s run in a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, the midfielder started just one of Arsenal’s next 10 matches. Arteta cited the number of matches Eze had played before Christmas, but the England international has had to earn his way back into the fold, and keeping sight of the type of player he is while Arteta finds ways to unlock that has been crucial.
Speaking before Arsenal’s goalless draw with Sporting CP in the Champions League, Eze admitted that adjusting to the amount of tactical detail at Arsenal was one of his biggest challenges. He had structure at Crystal Palace under Roy Hodgson and Oliver Glasner, but, accustomed to his surroundings, it was easier to be a free spirit.
Even then, he spoke about the importance of sticking to his style of play in a footballing world that was becoming more rigid. That has only been heightened at Arsenal with the number of tight matches that come as a result of teams sitting back and increased tactical instruction.
Asked how he has found staying true to his style, Eze said: “It’s something that you have to be conscious of all the time.
“You’re in an environment and industry that at times, if you’re not careful, can pull you away from yourself. I know the reason I’m here is because of the type of player I am. Staying true to that is everything, really. If I stop doing that stuff, I’m no longer the player I can be or even the player that was brought to Arsenal. As long as I’m being myself and playing the game the way I see it should be played, and supplementing the ideas at the club, that’s the perfect combination.”
Of all the players in the squad, Eze is in a unique position as somebody who was in Arsenal’s academy but is not an academy graduate like Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly or Max Dowman. He is slightly older and had exposure to different Arsenal squads.
During a loan spell at then-League Two side Wycombe Wanderers in 2017-18, Eze was retweeting compilations of Arsenal’s 2006-07 ‘forgotten’ season. That season was in the midst of Arsene Wenger transitioning from the more physical midfields of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva to those of smaller technicians such as Cesc Fabregas and Tomas Rosicky.
When asked about players from that side who influenced his playing style, outside of Thierry Henry, Eze said: “Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and I really liked Aleksandr Hleb. Players that you can see their distinct way that they play, the way they operate. It’s special. Jack Wilshere as well, who was confident. A believer of football. They are just the type of guys you resonate with.”
While he says this Arsenal team have the same confidence to believe they’re that team, they need to prove it in the coming weeks.
Cup matches were often palate cleansers for Arsenal earlier this season, but a Champions League semi-final away to Atletico Madrid will be anything but. It would be one of the biggest matches of Eze’s career should he be fit enough to play.
“To be here now is special,” he said. “This is football at the highest level. This is what the team has been pushing for. Now that you’re here, you have the opportunity to give everything and enjoy it as much as possible.”
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