{"id":807290,"date":"2026-10-19T06:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807290\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T06:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:10:14","slug":"mikel-arteta-explains-eberechi-eze-substitution-in-brutal-public-message-to-arsenal-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807290\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta explains Eberechi Eze substitution in brutal public message to Arsenal star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mikel Arteta substituted Eberechi Eze with Noni Madueke at half-time and his replacement went on to score the winning goal for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mikel Arteta speaking in a post-match interview\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1_mikel-arteta.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Mikel Arteta explained the reasoning for substituting Eberechi Eze\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Mikel Arteta explained the reasoning for substituting Eberechi Eze<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mikel Arteta claims the way <a aria-label=\"Nottingham ForestLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/nottingham-forest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Nottingham Forest<\/a> were defending is why he substituted <a aria-label=\"Eberechi EzeLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/ebere-eze\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Eberechi Eze<\/a> with <a aria-label=\"Noni MaduekeLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/noni-madueke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Noni Madueke<\/a> at the City Ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Madueke came on for Eze at half-time, and the former <a aria-label=\"ChelseaLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/chelsea-fc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Chelsea<\/a> winger scored <a aria-label=\"ArsenalLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arsenal<\/a> &#8216;s winner on Sunday evening. That goal was his first since the final day of last season against <a aria-label=\"Crystal PalaceLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/crystal-palace-fc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Crystal Palace<\/a> at <a aria-label=\"Selhurst ParkLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/selhurst-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Selhurst Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a aria-label=\"ArtetaLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/mikel-arteta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arteta<\/a> selected Madueke to replace the injured <a aria-label=\"Christos TzolisLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/christos-tzolis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Christos Tzolis<\/a> against <a aria-label=\"Leeds UnitedLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/leeds-united\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Leeds United<\/a> last weekend but initially opted for Eze in the East Midlands. However, the former Palace player was hooked after 45 minutes, in a change that proved inspired after his impact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Speaking to Sky Sports about the substitution, Arteta said the reasoning behind bringing Eze off was &#8220;the way they (Forest) were defending.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The manager also specifically referenced Wednesday&#8217;s match against Lille in the <a aria-label=\"Champions LeagueLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/uefa-champions-league\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Champions League<\/a>, against whom Eze scored his first goal of the season. Arteta acknowledged: &#8220;Three days ago, he scored a goal and he should have scored three, and we are all happy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Eze had three shots on target at <a aria-label=\"Emirates StadiumLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/emirates-stadium\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Emirates Stadium<\/a>, with his other two being blocked. Arteta concluded: &#8220;So this is football; that&#8217;s why you need fresh legs, a different profile, and to try different things.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eberechi Eze playing for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League at the City Ground\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0_Nottingham-Forest-FC-v-Arsenal-FC-Premier-League-202627.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Eberechi Eze struggled against Nottingham Forest before being substituted by Mikel Arteta\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Eberechi Eze struggled against Nottingham Forest before being substituted by Mikel Arteta(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">On the difference between the two players, <a aria-label=\"Ian WrightLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/ian-wright\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ian Wright<\/a> said on Sky Sports: &#8220;It&#8217;s very tough for him at the minute. Madueke has that pace, but Eze is more of a moments player.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;He likes to come in-field, but it&#8217;s going to be very tough for him to get in the team in those positions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;It looks like he&#8217;s going to be on the left-hand side, but he needs players around him when he has the ball. Taking someone on isn&#8217;t his main skill. In the middle of the pitch, he can go left or right, but he&#8217;s a bit isolated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Make sure you never miss the latest Arsenal news and opinion by making <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/swg\/ui\/v1\/addpreferredsource?_=1791972611134&amp;hl=en-GB&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football.london%2Fpremier-league%2Fadd-footballlondon-your-google-preferred-34700672#__WA__=%7B%22requestId%22%3A%22addPreferredSource%22%2C%22returnUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football.london%2Fpremier-league%2Fadd-footballlondon-your-google-preferred-34700672%22%2C%22args%22%3A%7B%22source%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football.london%2Fpremier-league%2Fadd-footballlondon-your-google-preferred-34700672%22%2C%22_client%22%3A%22SwG%201.0.166%22%7D%7D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Football London one of your Google preferred sources<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;d have a go [if I were Eze]. Whatever happens, he&#8217;s not going to be one of the first teamers &#8211; he&#8217;ll come in and out of the team like Gyokeres and Madueke, so he&#8217;ll have to take an opportunity and do what he does.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;The way it went in the first half, I thought he&#8217;d take him off. I didn&#8217;t think it would be at half-time though, he must be devastated. I would prefer the manager to take me off because I&#8217;m trying things rather than have nothing to show for it. He didn&#8217;t really do anything; I think he should just go for it and force the issue because it looks like the manager might not pick him anyway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;With Eze&#8217;s ability and what he&#8217;s capable of, it&#8217;s on him, but at the moment it feels tough for him; you can see it&#8217;s not happening for him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792390214_864_0_GettyImages-2279111956.jpg\" \/>Get YOUR Arsenal Newsletter<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">All the best news, features, updates and analysis from Tom Canton and more straight to your Inbox!<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Yours in just two simple steps.<\/p>\n<p>Head <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=c4adf4f1-28ae-4640-8370-55aaf4c794e1&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">THIS WAY<\/a>Enter your email and hit Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta substituted Eberechi Eze with Noni Madueke at half-time and his replacement went on to score the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[220,96475,218,2119,264949,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-807290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-arsenal","tag-ebere-eze","tag-football","tag-mikel-arteta","tag-nottingham-forest-vs-arsenal","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}