Theo Walcott believes Mikel Arteta will not be happy with Eberechi Eze after Arsenal's 3-0 win over Coventry City on Friday night. The Premier League champions started the new season with goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard at the Emirates Stadium.
Eze began the match as a substitute and came on to replace Christos Tzolis with 14 minutes remaining. However, Walcott feels Arteta would have been less than impressed with Eze's speculative long-range free-kick in the closing stages, which sailed high over the bar. Walcott says those 'little details' will play a major role in the Arsenal manager's selection choices this season.
Walcott highlights 'little details' in squad depth
'Creating that winning mentality is so important for this team because as soon as you start those habits it's hard for these teams,' Walcott told Premier League Productions. 'You saw Coventry, they didn't know what to do at times, there were too big gaps, too big spaces, Arsenal, when they play with the handbrake off, I wanted to see a little bit more, I felt Arsenal have so more gears to go into and that's great.'
'Even when the substitutions came on, that's when their chances are to show Mikel, 'don't forget about me'. I felt some could have done a little bit more coming on maybe, but it's the first game of the season and you've got to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's just a reminder to the guys who aren't starting that it's a big, deep squad. If you want to be in that starting line-up, there are standards that Mikel will be looking into.'
Walcott specifically pointed to Eze's late effort: 'Eze having that shot at the end… I'm not sure he [Arteta] will be happy with that. I know it's such a small thing but these are little details that he will look into each individual player if he's going to be with them throughout the season, that's just a sign to see.'
Tzolis impresses on debut after £34m move
Walcott was also impressed by Tzolis' performance in his first Premier League game for Arsenal following his £34 million move from Club Brugge earlier this summer. 'I like him a lot, he reminds me of Alexi [Sanchez],' Walcott said. 'The reason why I say that, when he gets the ball his first touch is positive, his first thought is forward, attack the full-back. Alexi would always give the full-back a headache and even wearing the number 17 reminds he of him, I know he moved to the number seven when Tomas Rosicky moved on.'
'However, there's something about the way he moves with the ball, he glides on the field, they want to keep on giving it to him as well, I think you can see the confidence is growing and growing, he has go a bit more pace about him than Trossard does, so he's a bit of a hybrid between Trossard and Alexis. But very impressed, when he gets fitter and players get to know his game a lot more, but I like what I see so far, really impressed.'
The win gives Arsenal an early boost in their title defence, with Walcott noting the team still has 'so more gears to go into'. The performance, while dominant, left room for improvement, and the manager's attention to detail will be key as the season progresses.
