Eberechi Eze and Arteta’s Tactical Plan Helps Arsenal Finally Click

In the week before Eberechi Eze took charge of the north London derby — and illuminated it in a way few players ever have — the 27-year-old was actually meant to be taking it easy. Fresh from international duty with England, Eze had been granted two days off. Yet, true to form, he cut his rest short and reported back to Arsenal’s London Colney training base after just one.

“He wants to learn,” Mikel Arteta said proudly.

That hunger to improve has endeared Eberechi Eze to everyone at the club. Arsenal’s staff have been thrilled by his evolution, though they’ve quietly noted that his play had been a little “tight” in recent weeks — a sign that he hadn’t yet found full fluidity or freedom within Arteta’s famously intricate system.

It’s hardly surprising. Arteta’s tactical framework is demanding, and Eze joined without the benefit of a full pre-season. Even Declan Rice, one of the most intelligent and adaptable midfielders around, needed months to truly internalise those expectations. By contrast, the likes of Jurrien Timber and Max Dowman seemed to “get it” instantly — but such cases are rare.

Eze’s challenge was also stylistic. At Crystal Palace, he was the focal point, given license to roam and express himself freely. Every attacking touch must serve a purpose — any unnecessary giveaway risks undermining the collective shape.

Still, Arteta’s coaching staff have worked closely with him to refine a new left-sided role designed to unleash his creativity while maintaining tactical balance. The results of that work were on glorious display in Sunday’s 4–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

His movement for the third goal — dropping a shoulder, gliding into space, and curling an unstoppable shot into the top corner — symbolised the moment it all clicked. The “tightness” had gone. He was free, confident, and devastatingly effective.

That hat-trick was historic, making Eberechi Eze just the fourth player ever to score three times in a north London derby, joining Ted Drake (1934), Terry Dyson (1961), and Alan Sunderland (1978).

For all the talk of control and tactical rigidity, Arteta may have just found the player who can bring spontaneity and magic to his precision machine.

Eze’s talent, now fully unlocked, has elevated Arsenal — and perhaps himself — into something truly special.