Arteta reveals the reason why he brought Eze off at half-time in Brentford draw | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says his decision to take Eberechi Eze off at half time in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brentford was for tactical reasons.

Eze made his first Premier League start for Arsenal since their 2-1 win over Wolves on December 13th, but only managed 45 minutes before he was replaced by Martin Odegaard.

Arteta was asked why he made the change after the match.

“Because with the way that they were pressing,” he answered. “I think we needed another kind of profile to generate many more problems for them around those areas.

“I think he [Odegaard] came on in the pitch really well, and the team went into another gear and more threat to arrive to the areas that we wanted to get into.”

Arteta was also asked whether he is worried about Eze’s form so far this season.

“Well, I think he had moments,” Arteta explained. “And it’s not easy when you move to a new club, it’s always like this. 

“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.”

With Arsenal dropping two points against Brentford, their lead at the top has dropped from six points to four. Arteta believes that City are going to be relentless until the end of the season.

“We are going to stay calm, we’re going to be willing and preparing to win every single match,” he said. “The only thing we can do is focus on that, and raise the levels, collectively and individually, to be better than the opponent every week. 

“That’s going to carry on like this until May, regardless if we play before or after that. It’s just the things that we have to do, that’s the most important thing.”