Freddie Ljungberg questioned Mikel Arteta’s handling of Eberechi Eze following Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Tottenham, calling for the midfielder to be given more starts going forward.
It proved another dream derby day for Arsenal’s £67.5million summer signing from Crystal Palace, three months on for his hat-trick heroics in the reverse fixture at the Emirates.
The England international made the breakthrough for the Gunners towards the end of the first half, only for Randal Kolo Muani to make it all square just two minutes later at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But Viktor Gyokeres restored Arsenal’s advantage just moments after the break and Eze capitalised on some poor Spurs defending to increase the deficit on the hour-mark, capping off a fine individual performance.
With the hosts coming up short in search of a response, Arsenal made sure to well and truly put the game to bed at the death – and it was Gyokeres who made it four with a composed strike in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The result saw Arsenal move five points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table with ten games remaining of the season. Arteta’s men will look to pick up where they left off when return to action at home to Chelsea in a week’s time.
Igor Tudor’s Tottenham, meanwhile, are hovering just four points above the relegation zone ahead of their trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham next Sunday afternoon.
‘He had that belief and I’m really happy with him,’ Arteta said of Eze’s eye-catching showing in the derby.
‘He’s really trying to mold and adapt into what we want from him.’
On Arsenal’s statement victory, the Spaniard added: ‘I’m really happy, really proud about how we approached the game.
‘The initiative and the quality we showed to come here and win the game in the way that we did.
‘That is the beauty of football. When you look back at the game against Wolves, how did we draw that game from there? I was out with them every day and I know how much they want it.
‘This is the Premier League, it will go all the way for sure. Ten games in the Premier League is a long way.’
Viaplay’s punditry panel of Peter Schmeichel, Jaap Stam and Ljungberg- who boast a combined total of ten Premier League titles – waxed lyrical about Eze’s display as they analysed Arsenal’s victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
‘He’s such an elegant player. He’s actually a really beautiful player to watch,’ ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel said.
‘He’s one of those players that you want to pay to come and watch him play.
‘Arsenal haven’t got many of those players, but him, it’s brilliant when he’s on that kind of form.’
On Eze, Ljungberg added: ‘He’s so ingrained from being at Palace, you have to always create something: you have a chance, you have to make something.
‘He does that here and I think they should use him more than they do.’
Former Manchester United and Netherlands defender Stam, meanwhile, believes Eze’s X-factor qualities gave Arsenal something different that they often lack in the final third.
‘It must be a nightmare to play against him. If you see him move, he’s taking up great positions and he’s so comfortable on the ball,’ he said.
‘He knows what to do and he also has a clear understanding of what his team-mates are doing as well.
‘He knows them and, with his one-touch football, he can find them. From there, he creates spaces for his team-mates but also for himself.
‘It’s always nice when you’re playing in a team with those types of players because it gives you so much extra, so much quality technically, but, also, the goalscoring performances that he’s putting out… it’s great to see that.’
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