Jamie Redknapp accuses Mikel Arteta of ‘mismanaging’ £67.5m Arsenal star
Jamie Redknapp accused Mikel Arteta of ‘mismanaging’ Eberechi Eze before he played a starring role in Arsenal’s north London derby win over Tottenham.
Eze scored a hat-trick in the first north London derby of the season and produced another impressive performance in Sunday’s 4-1 win at Spurs.
The former Crystal Palace attacker, who was close to joining Tottenham last summer, gave Arsenal the lead midway through the first half with a superb finish.
Spurs went up the other end and equalised through Randal Kolo Muani but Arsenal quickly reasserted their dominance over their north London rivals.
Viktor Gyokeres restored Arsenal’s lead straight after half-time with a thumping strike before Eze added a third on the hour mark.
Gyokeres rounded off an impressive derby win over Tottenham with his second and Arsenal’s fourth as the Gunners restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Five of Eze’s six league goals for Arsenal have come against Spurs and Redknapp described his performance as ‘wonderful’.
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Eze’s underwhelming form was once again a talking point before the north London derby and Redknapp believes Arteta ‘mismanaged’ his £67.5m summer signing earlier in the season.
‘Eberechi Eze made a mistake against Aston Villa at one point and came out of the team a bit after that,’ Redknapp said before Sunday’s derby.
‘But I do think the manager has mismanaged him. He’s a player who needs confidence, we saw that at Crystal Palace where he was great.’
Speaking after Arsenal’s derby win, Redknapp added on Sky Sports: ‘They were magnificent today. You just felt there was control about this Arsenal side.
‘It was a complete mismatch. They were in different leagues, Arsenal were so classy. They were so much better than Tottenham, it was like two different leagues.
‘If Tottenham aren’t careful, they might be in a different league. They cannot keep performing like this.
‘Gyokeres led the line brilliantly, Eze was wonderful. It was a brilliant performance. Arsenal were fantastic, far too good for Tottenham.’
Eze was delighted with both his and Arsenal’s performance against Tottenham and said the Gunners ‘dominated’ their north London rivals.
‘We played with dominance today,’ Eze said. ‘We played with confidence and just the connection that we had on the pitch.
‘I think it was a special performance from us and something that we can continue to build on and something to work towards our goals.
‘We know what these types of games are. We know the energy that the fans are bringing and how we need to be emotionally ready for the games as well.
‘I think we’ve done so well with that and we took advantage of that for sure. These games are all about momentum and being in the moment.
‘I’m just thankful to God for the opportunities that we took today. We worked so hard, we gave everything and when we perform like this it motivates us.’
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