Arteta keen to see more from Eze after first Arsenal goal
The new Gunners opened his account against Port Vale in the Carabao Cup.
Mikel Arteta believes Eberechi Eze still has much more to contribute to Arsenal’s attack despite marking his first goal for the club in their 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Port Vale.
The summer signing from Crystal Palace opened the scoring just eight minutes into Wednesday’s third-round tie at Vale Park. Arsenal, however, struggled to turn dominance into clear chances and only sealed the win late on when substitute Leandro Trossard struck in the 86th minute.
Eze’s £60million move back to Arsenal has been one of the most talked-about transfers of the summer, and on a night when opportunities were limited, he stood out as the Gunners’ most dangerous player.
Speaking after the match, Arteta highlighted both the difficulty of the fixture and Eze’s qualities: “He played very centrally against a team that went 5-4-1, super-compact inside, it’s not easy to find the space but he’s very capable with the goal and with another three or four actions that he is completely through and [playing] people through.
“He needs to still play more time a little bit with those guys to understand the timings, especially the things that he needs to do, and then actions like that will be more consistent and better for us. In general very good, there is still a lot more to give I think.”
Eze, who has already been deployed in several different attacking positions since arriving in North London, began this game on the left but drifted centrally to good effect.
“At the end what we want to do with him is to get him in positions, in spaces that he can create his magic moments,” Arteta added. “Some of that will be from the wide areas, some of that will be from the right or left in relation to the opposition as well.”
Arsenal’s summer recruitment aimed at strengthening the squad for a busy season, and that depth was evident as Arteta made nine changes from Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Kepa Arrizabalaga made his debut in goal, Christian Norgaard earned a first start in midfield, and Bukayo Saka featured for an hour as he continues to recover from a hamstring issue.
Arteta admitted he now faces difficult choices ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Newcastle.
“What we need to do … is generate the performances that we want with the players that haven’t really played together, with a completely different midfield than they’ve played together before, with a front line that is different as well,” he explained.
“Max [Dowman] came in as well and connect[ed] immediately with the team. It’s a lot of positives to take from the game…
“That’s exactly what we want, that they’re giving us and me those headaches because that means that they are so connected with the team, that they really want to help the team. Everybody will play a lot of minutes.”