Mikel Arteta explained his decision to bring off Eberechi Eze at half-time in Arsenal’s draw with Brentford, suggesting the midfielder struggled to cope with the Bees’ tactics.
Eze was starting a Premier League game for the first time since December 13, benefitting from Kai Havertz’s injured and Martin Odegaard not yet being fully fit.
Eze was hooked at the break and replaced by Odegaard, who immediately had more of an impact as Arsenal enjoyed their best spell of the match.
Asked why he made the early call to bring Eze off, Arteta said: “Because with the way that they were pressing, I think we needed another kind of profile to generate many more problems for them around those areas.
“I think he came on in the pitch really well and the team had another gear, more threat to arrive to the areas that we wanted to do. That's the decision.”
His £60million summer move from Crystal Palace has largely fallen flat so far, but Arteta defended him by insisting most creative players would have struggled against Brentford’s direct and physical approach.
“Well I think he had moments and it's not easy when you move to a new club,” Arteta said.
“It's always like this and when you play against a team that is like this and the ball is a lot of times not on the floor and you have to be constantly breaking the play and do that, especially for attacking and creative players, it's more difficult.”
