Walcott's Warning on Eze's Late Decision-Making in Arsenal's Win
Theo Walcott has warned that Mikel Arteta will not gloss over Eberechi Eze’s late decision-making despite Arsenal cruising to a 3-0 win over Coventry City on opening night.
The Premier League champions eased into the new campaign at the Emirates, with Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard all on the scoresheet in a dominant display that underlined the depth of Arteta’s squad.
Eze began the night on the bench and only entered the fray with 14 minutes left, replacing Christos Tzolis. With the game long since won, it looked like a low‑pressure cameo. Walcott doesn’t see it that way.
Walcott’s warning on “little details”
As the clock ticked down, Eze took on a speculative long-range free-kick, sending it high over the bar. The outcome meant nothing to the scoreline. Walcott is convinced it will still matter to Arteta.
“Creating that winning mentality is so important for this team because as soon as you start those habits it’s hard for these teams,” Walcott told Premier League Productions.
“You saw Coventry, they didn’t know what to do at times, there were too big gaps, too big spaces, Arsenal, when they play with the handbrake off, I wanted to see a little bit more, I felt Arsenal have so more gears to go into and that’s great.”
For Walcott, the real battle now is inside the Arsenal squad. The starters laid down a marker; the substitutes, he suggested, must match it.
“Even when the substitutions came on, that’s when their chances are to show Mikel, ‘don’t forget about me’. I felt some could have done a little bit more coming on maybe, but it’s the first game of the season and you’ve got to give them the benefit of the doubt.
“It’s just a reminder to the guys who aren’t starting that it’s a big, deep squad. If you want to be in that starting line-up, there are standards that Mikel will be looking into.
“Eze having that shot at the end… I’m not sure he [Arteta] will be happy with that. I know it’s such a small thing but these are little details that he will look into each individual player if he’s going to be with them throughout the season, that’s just a sign to see.”
In other words: even at 3-0, there are no free passes.
Tzolis catches the eye
Walcott reserved his biggest praise for Tzolis, who started his first Premier League match for Arsenal after a £34 million move from Club Brugge earlier in the summer.
“I like him a lot, he reminds me of Alexi [Sanchez],” Walcott said.
“The reason why I say that, when he gets the ball his first touch is positive, his first thought is forward, attack the full-back. Alexi would always give the full-back a headache and even wearing the number 17 reminds me of him, I know he moved to the number seven when Tomas Rosicky moved on,”
“However, there’s something about the way he moves with the ball, he glides on the field, they want to keep on giving it to him as well, I think you can see the confidence is growing and growing, he has got a bit more pace about him than Trossard does, so he’s a bit of a hybrid between Trossard and Alexis.
“But very impressed, when he gets fitter and players get to know his game a lot more, but I like what I see so far, really impressed.”
On a night when the champions showed their power and their depth, Walcott’s message cut through the early-season glow: the bar is high, the squad is stacked, and every touch — even a late free-kick in a 3-0 win — could shape who Arteta truly trusts over the months ahead.
