Eberechi Eze had a very quiet game for Arsenal against Athletic Club in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with Steve McManaman telling him he has to do better.
The England international joined the Gunners from Crystal Palace late in the transfer window and is getting used to life in his new surroundings since the initial £60m move.
The 27-year-old made his Arsenal debut as a substitute at Liverpool and then started against Nottingham Forest at the weekend and again, making a Champions League debut in Bilbao.
It was a steady game for him against Forest but he was underwhelming in Spain, making little impact at all.
Eze and fellow summer signing Viktor Gyokeres were both taken off with the score at 0-0, with replacements Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli both scoring as the match finished 2-0 to Mikel Arteta’s men.
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Former Liverpool and Real Madrid star McManaman was not impressed with Eze’s display at all, and feels a move to a Champions League club is a step up for the player and he must adjust quickly.
‘Martinelli did more in five minutes than Eze did in 70 minutes,’ McManaman said on TNT Sports.
‘Eze will watch that performance tonight when he goes back and say “this is a different class of opposition”. They’re quicker, stronger than he faced in the Premier League with Crystal Palace, and he knows his level will have to jump up.
‘You’re now playing big boy football in the Champions League. If you want to compete, you have to be quicker, you have to be better than he showed tonight.’
It seems a stretch that Athletic Club provide a different level of opposition to what Eze has faced in the Premier League against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City, but he did struggle to show much at the San Mames.
It could be that being pushed out to play wide on the left is not getting the best out of Eze, with a central position possibly preferable for him.
Arteta did not really play a number 10 in Bilbao, with a central midfield three of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino.
Eze could get the chance to play centrally in the Premier League, with Martin Odegaard out of action with a shoulder problem and missing the trip to Spain.
There is also competition for his place on the left wing, with Martinelli showing that he wants his position back and possibly deserves it.
It is still extremely early in his Arsenal career for Eze, though, with his outing in the Basque country his Champions League debut, so Arteta and Arsenal fans will not be panicking about him yet.
McManaman was very positive on Eze’s chances of impressing for Arsenal before the game in Spain, expecting him to step up.
‘I think it was a magnificent signing,’ McManaman said ahead of the match in Bilbao. ‘He’s potentially a world superstar.
‘When he plays at the biggest stadiums and in bigger competitions, he will get better. He looks like one of those players who takes it on his back and thinks “this is very easy”.’