How Oliver Glasner Views Eberechi Eze's Role on Arsenal's Peripheries

Oliver Glasner will be bidding to resist the champions as Nottingham Forest head coach, and he may see one of his most cherished former players step out at the City Ground.

Eberechi Eze started and scored Arsenal’s second goal in the 67th minute of their Champions League victory over Lille on Tuesday.

Operating off the left, he amassed the most touches in the opposition’s box as he looked to stake a claim for more minutes under Mikel Arteta.

Christos Tzolis has been sidelined since sustaining an injury on international duty for Greece, so an opening has emerged to jostle with England teammate Noni Madueke for a starting place out wide.

Eze’s fellow signings from last summer’s transfer window, Viktor Gyökeres and Martín Zubimendi, have fallen down the pecking order due to Arteta’s preferences to elect Kai Havertz and the likes of Bruno Guimarães.

In the case of Eze, it was expected to be a tall order to dislodge Martin Ødegaard centrally when the Norwegian was not blighted by injuries, so getting to grips with initiating useful attacks from the flank is his ongoing task.

Glasner developed a close bond with Eze during his time steering the ship at Crystal Palace, which was only strengthened once Eze’s goal downed Manchester City in the 2025 FA Cup final to seal the club’s first major trophy.

The Forest boss offered his assessment of Eze since making the switch, as the 28-year-old has not started a single league game this season for the Gunners.

‘I think the last game, where he played the entire game, he scored a goal and had a very good performance. I think so far in the season, he won’t be pleased with the minutes he played.

‘Last season, I think it was similar, a little bit up and down, so some very good moments with scoring goals, playing several games in a row, and then also having a few games with very few minutes.

‘Every manager, they always think for this game, in this position, maybe this player has a better impact than the other one, and that’s why you start him. Mikel can choose from many top players.

‘That’s just fate if you play for a team like Arsenal. It’s up to Eberechi himself to do better and better, so that Mikel plays him every single game.’

With Arsenal set to travel 3,600 miles for their matches in the next month, ensuring every player is ready will be significant to maintaining their output before the next international break.

Arteta reaffirmed his firm stance on how every player should conduct themselves to drive standards in a competitive squad during his press conference previewing the trip to Nottingham.

‘So you play, you have to be available. When you don’t play, you have to make sure that you do everything you can to impact the team. Because otherwise the other ones that are playing, “I don’t perform because I’m tired”.

‘So then it’s always an excuse. I hate excuses. We know the role. We know that the competitiveness that we need in the team is at the maximum level and they are doing amazingly well.

‘I don’t see any player that is playing that lacks rhythm or lacks this. Everybody is involved. Everybody has played minutes and it will continue to be like this because they have really deserved that. So hopefully we can maintain that because it’s a massive asset for us.’