Mikel Arteta has been warned that he is making a major tactical mistake with one of Arsenal’s biggest summer signings.
There is little for Arsenal to complain about at Christmas this year, given they have lost just two games in all competitions so far this season.
The Gunners sit two points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, while they are also unbeaten in the Champions League and through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal’s strong backing of Arteta in the summer window, splashing more than £250million on eight new signings, has equipped the Gunners with perhaps the deepest squad in the entire league.
And that depth has already been tested so far this season, with Arsenal suffering a slew of injuries in defensive and forward positions at various points in the campaign.
A lengthy injury to Martin Odegaard afforded Eberechi Eze an uninterrupted spell in the side’s starting lineup in his preferred No10 role.
And while the Englishman, signed from Crystal Palace for £67.5m last summer, did score a memorable hat-trick against rivals Tottenham, it has otherwise proved a quiet start to life in north London.
Eze has scored just two goals in his 23 other appearances in all competitions this season, while the return of Odegaard and others has seen him as an unused susbtitute in two of Arsenal’s last four matches.
But former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has not blamed Eze for his modest output this season, and instead said Arteta and his rigid system might be to blame.
‘I love what Morgan Rogers is doing for Aston Villa, and I think it’s similar to what Eberechi Eze did for Crystal Palace when he played in a similar role,’ Parker told gambling portal British Gambler.
‘Eze was outstanding at the time, and I think he was the best attacking midfielder in the Premier League last season.
‘I think that freedom has been taken away from him by Mikel Arteta since going to Arsenal.
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‘They bought him for what he was delivering and then when they got him, they’ve tried to get him to do something different.
‘It doesn’t make sense for that kind of money.’
Meanwhile, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes Eze risks ‘not get back in the team’ and damaging his England hopes following his dip in performances and Rogers’ superb form.
‘If he keeps doing what he’s doing Rogers will start [for England] and I don’t see how he doesn’t because he’s always going to play at Aston Villa.
‘You look at Eze, he might not get back in the Arsenal team for a while, he might be in and out.
‘Whereas Rogers will be first-choice at Villa, even when it’s not going too well for him he will still play. I think he starts for England at the World Cup.’
Arsenal are next in league action after Christmas when they host Brighton at the Emirates on Saturday, 27 December.
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