Theo Walcott's Take on Arsenal's Performance and Eze's Missed Chance
Theo Walcott suspects Mikel Arteta walked away from Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Coventry City with one small irritation on his mind – Eberechi Eze’s late free-kick.
Arsenal opened their Premier League title defence with authority at the Emirates. Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard delivered the goals, the performance looked sharp, and the champions never really loosened their grip on a Coventry side that spent long spells chasing shadows.
Eze, though, had to wait. The summer signing began on the bench and only entered the game with 14 minutes left, replacing Christos Tzolis. With the contest already settled, it was a brief window to catch Arteta’s eye.
Walcott thinks that chance slipped by.
Walcott questions Eze decision
Late on, Eze stood over a long-range free-kick and went for glory. The effort flew high over the bar. In the context of the scoreline, it meant nothing. In the context of Arteta’s standards, Walcott believes it meant a lot.
“Creating that winning mentality is so important for this team because as soon as you start those habits it’s hard for these teams,” Walcott told Premier League Productions.
“You saw Coventry, they didn’t know what to do at times, there were too big gaps, too big spaces, Arsenal, when they play with the handbrake off, I wanted to see a little bit more, I felt Arsenal have so more gears to go into and that’s great.
“Even when the substitutions came on, that’s when their chances are to show Mikel, ‘don’t forget about me’. I felt some could have done a little bit more coming on maybe, but it’s the first game of the season and you’ve got to give them the benefit of the doubt.
“It’s just a reminder to the guys who aren’t starting that it’s a big, deep squad. If you want to be in that starting line-up, there are standards that Mikel will be looking into.
“Eze having that shot at the end… I’m not sure he [Arteta] will be happy with that. I know it’s such a small thing but these are little details that he will look into each individual player if he’s going to be with them throughout the season, that’s just a sign to see.”
In other words, with this Arsenal squad as stacked as it is, even a hopeful free-kick in stoppage time becomes part of the manager’s audit.
Tzolis catches the eye
If Eze left a question, Tzolis offered an answer.
The winger, signed from Club Brugge for £34 million earlier in the summer, made his Premier League bow and immediately drew Walcott’s praise. The former Arsenal forward reached for a familiar comparison.
“I like him a lot, he reminds me of Alexi [Sanchez],” Walcott said.
“The reason why I say that, when he gets the ball his first touch is positive, his first thought is forward, attack the full-back. Alexi would always give the full-back a headache and even wearing the number 17 reminds he of him, I know he moved to the number seven when Tomas Rosicky moved on,
“However, there’s something about the way he moves with the ball, he glides on the field, they want to keep on giving it to him as well, I think you can see the confidence is growing and growing, he has go a bit more pace about him than Trossard does, so he’s a bit of a hybrid between Trossard and Alexis.
“But very impressed, when he gets fitter and players get to know his game a lot more, but I like what I see so far, really impressed.”
On a night when Arsenal’s established stars did the damage, it was a reminder that the champions’ season will also be shaped by the players fighting to break into Arteta’s strongest XI – and by how ruthlessly they handle those tiny, telling moments.
