It’s been a difficult period for Eze, who has found minutes in the league hard to come by and this was was only his second start in the league since December.
He has a tough route into the team with captain Martin Odegaard a key part of Arteta’s first-choice midfield when he is fit and Leandro Trossard being in good form on the left wing, which is the other position Eze might feature.
The Arsenal boss did trial Eze on the left, but he switched off when Matty Cash scored Aston Villa‘s opener in their 2-1 defeat in December and, despite starting the following game, he was left on the substitute’s bench for the next four league matches.
Arteta opted to play England winger Bukayo Saka from the start in the disappointing 2-2 draw with Wolves in midweek as a number 10 – ahead of Eze, who started on the bench.
And the Spaniard admitted: “He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him the other day from the beginning, and some of the decisions that I made. And I just have to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.”
Arteta was asked by BBC Sport whether Eze’s record of producing goals at the end of the season was one of the reasons they signed him.
“We looked at every stat, but that one, to be very honest, no,” he added while laughing.
“He scored five goals in the last few games against them, which is extremely difficult to do. But I could see that he wanted to prove something.”
England manager Thomas Tuchel was in attendance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Eze will have hoped to have caught his eye after a recent lack of game time to boost his World Cup hopes this summer.
“Today it’s worked out, we thank God for it,” Eze told Sky Sports. “We put in a good performance. We did what we needed to do, which was the main thing.
“I’m always trying to get in those positions to be ready and to find the space and to work hard to get those opportunities. It takes a lot to get there and it’s worked out today.”
