Arteta to suppress ‘enjoyment’ of Arsenal star as Neville, Wright bemoan ‘rigid’ system | OneFootball

Gary Neville doesn’t believe Mikel Arteta will give Eberechi Eze the “freedom” to express himself at Arsenal despite his insistence to the contrary.

Eze has contributed five goals and four assists in 30 appearances for the Gunners in his debut season following his £60m move from Crystal Palace, but has started just 12 of their 23 Premier League games so far and none of their last seven.

After topping the Champions League table with eight wins from eight games, while they sit four points clear at the top of the Premier League, Arteta insists he wants his side to “play with enjoyment” as they fight on all fronts.

Arteta said: “We have earned the right to be in a great position in four competitions, and in the next four months we’re going to live and play with enjoyment, with a lot of courage and with the conviction that we’re going to win it.

“And this is going to be the mindset and where we’re going to put the energy. And I’m just hoping that everybody that is related to this club, especially our supporters, jump on that boat because this is the way that we’re going to live the next four months because we deserve to live like this.”

But both Gary Neville and Ian Wright doubt Eze will be given the freedom under Arteta, who comes from the Pep Guardiola “school of methodology”.

“We’re talking about someone like Eze, now Eze is coming in now and we’re saying, ‘Eze do your thing what you did at Palace’, Eze needs to be played and just free to play,” Wright said on the latest episode of Stick to Football.

Neville replied: “I don’t think he’s going to get that.”

Wright then said: “Listening to what the management is saying about enjoyment and players expressing themselves.”

Neville added: “He [Arteta] comes from that Pep [Guardiola] school of methodology over what would be being the maverick.

“When I look at Pep’s teams and what he did with [Jack] Grealish and when I see what Mikel does, you’ve got to admire how they put that system into the players, but they do want the methodology and the process of how you play to be followed over the individual.”

Wright said: “You say what’s got to change, to a certain extent.”

Neville then asked: “Can he change that?”

Wright replied: “Well at some stage… if you’ve got someone like Eze who plays with freedom. The goal that [Matheus] Cunha scored and even the goal from [Patrick] Dorgu, two great goals, they’re in positions where you’d like to see someone like Eze because he can do that.

“He’s got to have the freedom to play and wander into these areas. At the moment it does feel a bit rigid for him.

“If you’re going to leave [Martin] Odegaard out and bring this Eze in who is not free, doesn’t feel free… he’s [Arteta] said about enjoyment and letting them go.”