Mikel Arteta reveals “phenomenal” behind-the-scenes effort from Arsenal star that fans will love

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise onto Eberechi Eze for the contribution he’s making without even playing at the moment.

The England international joined the Gunners from Crystal Palace in the summer, and has contributed five goals and two assists so far, including a memorable hat-trick against Tottenham.

Still, Eze has had to make do with being an unused substitute in the last few games, leading to understandable questions about the situation.

Arteta, however, has made it clear he still rates Eze really highly, describing the 27-year-old’s “phenomenal” spirit behind the scenes to get back into the team.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of Arsenal’s game against Liverpool, Arteta had nothing but positive things to say about Eze when asked about continuing to leave him on the bench.

The Spanish tactician has clearly not given up on Eze yet, and fans will be delighted by what sounds like a great response from the player to missing out on starting games recently.

“Ebs has been exceptional when he’s played and when he hasn’t played – that’s a big quality that we have in the squad,” Arteta said.

? Mikel Arteta has praised Eberechi Eze’s “phenomenal” efforts behind the scenes! ?? pic.twitter.com/q028MtTH3G

— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) January 7, 2026

When asked to explain what he meant by Eze being exceptional when he’s not playing, Arteta explained: “Because his level of desire is going higher.

“The way he trains every day, the way he wants it, the way he wants to make everything that it takes to change my mind.

“He’s been phenomenal, and that’s not easy.

“I’m very confident that we’re going to see a great version of Ebs.”

See below for a good comparison of just how much Martin Odegaard is offering centrally, which has surely made it harder for Eze to start games now that the Norway international is back from injury…

Of course, Eze can also offer quality out wide, so that might mean he still has a chance of starting alongside Odegaard, rather than competing with him.

However, we can also see from the graphic below that Leandro Trossard is having an outstanding season for Arsenal, and is also offering more than Eze when he starts out wide…

Eze is undoubtedly a fine player, as we saw at Crystal Palace, but it’s not entirely clear what his best position is and if he really suits the specific demands Arteta is looking for either centrally or out wide.

It will be interesting to see how this develops as the season goes on, but it sounds like Arteta is still expecting big things from Eze even if he’s not been using him recently.

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