Pardew warns Eze could be reduced to impact sub role at Arsenal

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Eberechi Eze’s route back into Mikel Arteta’s starting XI could be far narrower than many Arsenal fans hoped, according to former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew, who believes the England international may be destined for a role off the bench rather than a regular starting berth.

Eze completed his high profile move from Crystal Palace back to his boyhood club in the summer and enjoyed a memorable first season in north London, finishing as a Premier League winner. Beyond two standout displays against Spurs, however, his campaign was largely inconsistent, and it ended with a costly penalty shootout miss in the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

After a limited role at the World Cup, the opening months of the new season have followed a similar pattern, with Martin Odegaard back to full fitness and firmly established in the number 10 role. Given the chance to impress on the left wing on Sunday in the absence of Christos Tzolis, Eze was substituted at half time and replaced by Noni Madueke, who went on to score the winning goal.

Pardew sees defensive mismatch in Arteta's system

Speaking to talkSPORT, Pardew explained why he does not see Eze displacing Odegaard any time soon. “In the way that he sets his No.10 up I don’t see Eze getting a lot of action there,” Pardew said. “There’s a real defensive side to that position that he likes that Odegaard does that he doesn’t do. I think Arteta doesn’t feel comfortable with that. I think there’s certain games against perhaps lesser opposition where Eze will be given that No.10 shirt.”

Pardew also questioned the decision to use Eze on the left flank, a position he occasionally occupied during his time at Crystal Palace. “I’ve seen him out on that left hand side for Crystal Palace a few times and it’s just not him, he’s never going to go outside and whip left footed crosses in,” he said. “He wants to play centrally and make the game too narrow, therefore you’ve not got enough width. It is a problem and Arteta took him off rightly because it just wasn’t working.”

Impact substitute rather than regular starter

Pardew suggested Arteta may be better served deploying Eze as a late change of pace rather than from the opening whistle. “But in the first instance maybe he shouldn’t have picked him there and used him off the bench as an impact No.10,” he said. “I think that will be his role, if he needs a goal I don’t think Eze will be a starter and if they need a moment or he’s looking for a moment to give him the last 10 or 15 minutes of games.”

With Odegaard fit and Madueke pushing his claims after Sunday’s impact off the bench, competition for attacking places shows no sign of easing, and how Arteta manages Eze’s role in the coming weeks will be worth monitoring closely.