How Eberechi Eze's special request to Mikel Arteta took Arsenal from brink of crisis to champions | OneFootball

Arsenal signed Eberechi Eze last summer with the view that a proven Premier League player of his calibre could be the missing link to help them win the title.

Interestingly, in the end it seems like one of his biggest contributions may have come away from the pitch as he had an important meeting with Mikel Arteta in recent weeks.

Just a month ago it looked like Arsenal’s title challenge was falling apart after back-to-back defeats against Bournemouth and Manchester City.

According to the Independent, that’s when Eze spoke with Arteta with the special request to give the players a bit more of a break.

Training sessions had become intense and were tiring the players, with Eze calling on the manager to trust them to get the job done as long as they were given a bit more space.

Eberechi Eze asked, and Mikel Arteta listened

According to the Independent, “Eze, one of the newer players who was also among the most laid-back, went up to his boss. In so many words, he told Arteta, we can do this, but we need a bit of space.

“The manager listened.

This clearly did the job, with Arsenal looking a different team after that defeat to Man City, coming back strongly with four wins in a row without conceding a single goal.

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During that time, AFC also made the Champions League final, beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals to set up a final clash against PSG.

It could yet be a Premier League and Champions League double for Arsenal this season, and if it is, then how important will Eze’s intervention look then?