‘Has to adapt’ – Arsenal star warned about ‘laid-back’ style after Brentford draw

Arsenal dropped points against Brentford on Thursday (Picture: Getty)

Eberechi Eze has been warned that his ‘laid-back’ style may be costing him after his latest anonymous display for Arsenal against Brentford.

Eze was handed his first Premier League start since mid-December as Mikel Arteta’s side were held to a 1-1 draw in west London on Thursday evening.

But the former Crystal Palace midfielder’s evening lasted just 45 minutes before he was replaced at half-time by Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard.

It proved another quiet display for the 27-year-old, who had 17 touches in the first half and completed only nine passes, the second fewest of any Arsenal player.

Eze looked to have arrived in an Arsenal shirt when he scored a memorable hat-trick in the north London derby, but the Englishman has failed to kick on and secure regular minutes in Arteta’s side since then.

Former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch labelled Eze a ‘passenger’ after his half-time substitution against Brentford, and former Gunners defender Nigel Winterburn said Eze’s style of play may be stifling him at present.

‘He’s now at a huge club in terms of expectation, and he, Havertz, and Odegaard are battling to be in the same position,’ Winterburn told Metro viaMr Luck.

Eberechi Eze struggled against Brentford (Picture: Getty)

‘The one thing I would say is Odegaard’s all energy. Eze looks a little bit more laid-back with the way, the style he plays.

‘When he gets that opportunity, I would just like to see him a bit more demanding of the ball in the creative areas and really showing us what we know he can do.

‘He’s got lovely close control, can pick out a pass, and can score goals.’

Winterburn, though, was not ready to write of Eze’s chances at Arsenal, and said the midfielder may simply be taking time to adjust to the rigours and demand’s of Arteta’s system.

Eze has not scored or assisted in the league since his hat-trick against Tottenham (Picture: Getty)

‘From now to the end of the season, I would think Eze is going to get plenty of game time,’ he added. ‘He’s a player I really like.

‘Although we don’t like to say it, sometimes, when you sign players, you give them up to a year to completely settle in.

‘We want everyone to hit the ground running and show us exactly what they’ve got. But Mikel Arteta’s style is a high-intensity press.

‘It’s a huge amount of workload on the players, and Eze’s just got to adapt to that situation.’

Asked about Eze’s half-time withdrawal against Brentford, Arteta explained post-match: ‘Because with the way that they were pressing

‘I think we needed another kind of profile to generate many more problems for them around those areas and I think [Odegaard] came on in the pitch really well and the team had another gear and more threat to arrive to the areas that we wanted to do and that’s the decision.

‘I think he had moments and it’s not easy when you move to a new club, it’s always like this and when you play against a team that is like this,’ Arteta added.

‘The ball is a lot of times not on the floor and you have to be constantly breaking the play and do that, especially for attacking and creative players, it’s more difficult.’

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