Good afternoon, Cannon and Keyboard warriors. There is a full slate of midweek Premier League matches Tuesday-Thursday, which is always fun. Arsenal aren’t in action until Thursday’s trip to Brentford,
so by the time that match kicks off, Manchester City could be within three points (ooohhh, scary). It’s an FA Cup weekend. The Gunners will host League One side Wigan, who just sacked their manager in hopes of climbing out of the relegation places, on Sunday.
So we’ve got a bit of vamping to do during the week. There will likely be some injury news that filters out with both Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka working towards returning from short-term issues. Today’s topic:
Which Arsenal player do you think is most misunderstood by the fanbase? By the wider footballing public?
Before the last couple of games, my answer would have been Gabriel Martinelli. The talk always focuses on whether his end-product is sufficient for Arsenal’s attack, but his true strength and value (and why the manager trusts him and picks him) is his motor. He has an seeming unending supply of running, that enables a high defensive workrate, relentless pressing, and the ability to fly forward to get into the attack even after hustling back to help out of possession. He’s been really good in his last couple of appearances and his workrate has stood out. I think people are starting to get it with him.
I’m having a tough time coming up with a player that people don’t understand at this point. This version of Arsenal has been around for long enough that the pieces and how they fit together aren’t a secret. So I’m going to get a little creative:
Ebere Eze.
I’ll start by saying I’m not 100% sure what his role at Arsenal is right now, nor do I think that Mikel Arteta knows yet. There is definitely an undercurrent in the discourse of why isn’t he playing more, why isn’t he doing more, and so on.
The misunderstanding goes something like “Arsenal need more on attack, Eze is a great attacker, why don’t they just use him more,” problem solved. It’s not that simple. They (Arteta, Eze, and the team around him) still haven’t figured out the fit, how to best maximize his creativity and shooting while minimizing the danger from his comparative lack of security in possession.
The team seem to be figuring out Viktor Gyokeres – partnerships developing, playing to his strengths, getting him more involved. My hope is the same thing happens with Ebere Eze. He’s too talented to not get more from.
