A detailed profile of the popular arrival, examining his strengths, subtle nuances, creativity, tactical/positional usage, and how his ideas might transform Arsenal’s attack
As a Palace fan, I’ve seen a lot of Eze. If anyone doubts his value, I would urge you to find a recording of the Fulham v Palace FA Cup quarterfinal last season. You will see Fulham having more of the play, and looking likelier to win, for just over half an hour. And then, as I wrote to a friend at the time, Eze bent the match to his will. Scored himself after 34 minutes, laid on a second after 39. Game over.
Us signing Eze has pretty much made my year. My kids could get school awards and I wouldn’t be as happy. I think he is going to raise levels. Have watched every minute of Arsenal games the last 10 years and it’s been painful at time against a committed low block when we just needed a touch of individually brilliance and having Saka double teamed, there was none forthcoming. Low blocks have literally cost us the title three times. City could break them down and we couldn’t. Hopefully now t teams can’t just double teamed Saka as that leaves Eze floating and he should carve up in that case.
Eze absolutely flies past my eye test, but I must confess - his underlying statistics just don’t scream elite to me. I’d wager a guess that it might simply be a reflection of the fact that he’s played for a mid-table team that doesn’t prioritise possession. I would love to see his possession adjusted numbers and the associated percentiles.
However, what truly excites me about this signing is his sheer willingness to play for Arsenal. I wonder if there is a statistically significant impact on your performance just because you’re fulfilling your lifelong dream of playing for your beloved boyhood club. Like, would that incline you to put in that extra oomph in training everyday, or make that extra gut bursting run in the 90th minute that ends up winning you the game?
Possible PhD thesis question for someone to pick up?
I think with teams that are heavy on the quick counter on the left, a califiory & eze may be too risky, this is one area where Martinelli has the advantage due to his speed. But i am definitely excited to see when both Martinelli and eze play, though this may mean a little congestion on that left channel with gryokeres and will prob mean a single zubi pivot, but that's the thing now we have a lot more option a lot more armoury!
The Eze signing is going to move things for the team, I have to believe this. I know we have to realistically set out a bear case for every player as part of responsible analysis, but I just want to lean into joy just this once. His signing feels good. His story is the stuff of fairy tales. May we all get the happy ending we’ve been so close to these last few years. 🤞
Thank you for the hard and excellent work you put into this (and all your essays). You marry analysis with passion in ways that enhance each of those components. Bravo!
Another routine masterpiece of Analysis With A Capital A (and a lovely literary quote in the beginning)!
Well.. we will see! I had a bit of.. concern.. as almost every pundit starting singing praises - and it is universally about "feelings" and "story" (Hero arc - returning to his home club as a missing bit of a title jigsaw). We were such a data driven club - hunting for a specific profile (case Sesko); and now we seemingly pivoted to "vibes" (Eze / Gyokeres).
Also a bit .. interesting that we went for quantity over quality this window - a lot of 7/10 or 8/10 players, rather than a few superstars (Liverpool approach). Which might be a sensible choice strategically over the whole season, but may mean we struggle in a Top-4 matches, where other teams may overwhelm us with pure players class.
I am not sure if you plan another 10000 novel on Hincapie (?)... Would you consider his signing as a particularly fitting pair with Eze (overlapper + high pace to protect against turnovers)? Or it is more of another rotation option, not necessarily linked to Eze signing?
I'm still trying to understand why Arteta didn't start Eze against Liverpool on Sunday. I hope that conservative approach won't come back to haunt them next May.
So, especially with Ødegaard/Havertz/Saka out, you need reference points. All of that can defang the press and cause you to play even more conservatively than we saw. So your choices are to go to Anfield and a) play Eze LW, and leave Calafiori on Salah without Martinelli's coverage and a new guy feeling it out, or b) have a front-two of Gyokeres/Eze, where a lot of lanes would have been likely to open up. Or you can play Lewis-Skelly to stick with Salah, but he doesn't jive perfectly with Eze, and Calafiori was borderline our best player and is looking undroppable. And this is the type of game where Martinelli usually thrives even when he's struggling.
Depending on how good Nwaneri's pressing details have gotten, I think that was the closer call.
My takeaway is that it was just annoying timing with this match (Salah playing, Eze brand new, Odegaard/Saka out), injuries, etc. I don't see a lot of wider lessons from it.
It's well said. I understand you. Arsenal were the more aggressive team in the first half, but seemed to take a step back and allow Liverpool to grow into the game in the second half.
As a Palace fan, I’ve seen a lot of Eze. If anyone doubts his value, I would urge you to find a recording of the Fulham v Palace FA Cup quarterfinal last season. You will see Fulham having more of the play, and looking likelier to win, for just over half an hour. And then, as I wrote to a friend at the time, Eze bent the match to his will. Scored himself after 34 minutes, laid on a second after 39. Game over.
Thank you. ❤️
Hope you all buy some lovely players. Pino is an interesting start.
Let it all work out
Us signing Eze has pretty much made my year. My kids could get school awards and I wouldn’t be as happy. I think he is going to raise levels. Have watched every minute of Arsenal games the last 10 years and it’s been painful at time against a committed low block when we just needed a touch of individually brilliance and having Saka double teamed, there was none forthcoming. Low blocks have literally cost us the title three times. City could break them down and we couldn’t. Hopefully now t teams can’t just double teamed Saka as that leaves Eze floating and he should carve up in that case.
Eze absolutely flies past my eye test, but I must confess - his underlying statistics just don’t scream elite to me. I’d wager a guess that it might simply be a reflection of the fact that he’s played for a mid-table team that doesn’t prioritise possession. I would love to see his possession adjusted numbers and the associated percentiles.
However, what truly excites me about this signing is his sheer willingness to play for Arsenal. I wonder if there is a statistically significant impact on your performance just because you’re fulfilling your lifelong dream of playing for your beloved boyhood club. Like, would that incline you to put in that extra oomph in training everyday, or make that extra gut bursting run in the 90th minute that ends up winning you the game?
Possible PhD thesis question for someone to pick up?
Great article as always Mr. Carpenter!
You got my like by coining "l'errante" and refusing feedback
I think with teams that are heavy on the quick counter on the left, a califiory & eze may be too risky, this is one area where Martinelli has the advantage due to his speed. But i am definitely excited to see when both Martinelli and eze play, though this may mean a little congestion on that left channel with gryokeres and will prob mean a single zubi pivot, but that's the thing now we have a lot more option a lot more armoury!
The Eze signing is going to move things for the team, I have to believe this. I know we have to realistically set out a bear case for every player as part of responsible analysis, but I just want to lean into joy just this once. His signing feels good. His story is the stuff of fairy tales. May we all get the happy ending we’ve been so close to these last few years. 🤞
Thank you for the hard and excellent work you put into this (and all your essays). You marry analysis with passion in ways that enhance each of those components. Bravo!
Another routine masterpiece of Analysis With A Capital A (and a lovely literary quote in the beginning)!
Well.. we will see! I had a bit of.. concern.. as almost every pundit starting singing praises - and it is universally about "feelings" and "story" (Hero arc - returning to his home club as a missing bit of a title jigsaw). We were such a data driven club - hunting for a specific profile (case Sesko); and now we seemingly pivoted to "vibes" (Eze / Gyokeres).
Also a bit .. interesting that we went for quantity over quality this window - a lot of 7/10 or 8/10 players, rather than a few superstars (Liverpool approach). Which might be a sensible choice strategically over the whole season, but may mean we struggle in a Top-4 matches, where other teams may overwhelm us with pure players class.
I am not sure if you plan another 10000 novel on Hincapie (?)... Would you consider his signing as a particularly fitting pair with Eze (overlapper + high pace to protect against turnovers)? Or it is more of another rotation option, not necessarily linked to Eze signing?
10,000 words huh? Grinded my teeth seeing a bear case on Eze. I do know we’ll definitely see a culture shift of shooting the damn ball. 👍🏽
I'm still trying to understand why Arteta didn't start Eze against Liverpool on Sunday. I hope that conservative approach won't come back to haunt them next May.
Let's do a true-up:
— Gyökeres (brand new to press, some flaws)
— Madueke (new to press)
— Eze (arrived 30 minutes ago)
— Zubimendi (fairly new to press, but great)
— Merino (not his usual role, but good)
— Calafiori (facing Salah)
So, especially with Ødegaard/Havertz/Saka out, you need reference points. All of that can defang the press and cause you to play even more conservatively than we saw. So your choices are to go to Anfield and a) play Eze LW, and leave Calafiori on Salah without Martinelli's coverage and a new guy feeling it out, or b) have a front-two of Gyokeres/Eze, where a lot of lanes would have been likely to open up. Or you can play Lewis-Skelly to stick with Salah, but he doesn't jive perfectly with Eze, and Calafiori was borderline our best player and is looking undroppable. And this is the type of game where Martinelli usually thrives even when he's struggling.
Depending on how good Nwaneri's pressing details have gotten, I think that was the closer call.
My takeaway is that it was just annoying timing with this match (Salah playing, Eze brand new, Odegaard/Saka out), injuries, etc. I don't see a lot of wider lessons from it.
Completely agree with this take - for what it's worth it's the team I picked in my head in the bar pre-game.
And such a beautiful piece, thank you. I just watched the clips over and over again on a plane yesterday, and the quotes made me smile even more.
It's well said. I understand you. Arsenal were the more aggressive team in the first half, but seemed to take a step back and allow Liverpool to grow into the game in the second half.