Farewell Eze?

[Rudi Hedman]

I just posted on talkshite that I thought Eze’s performance for England was a typical Eze average performance that we’ve seen time and time again.

Arsenal fans replied unsurprisingly with laughing emoji’s but they will pretty soon learn that Eze is a 5 or 6/10 or an 8 or 9/10, there is rarely consistency to his performances.

Adrian Durham gave him 3/10 for yesterday. I didn’t watch it. I generally don’t watch England vs 3rd and 4th rate nations, whether friendly or qualifiers. Tournament football is very different anyway.

 

[Palacesince64]

I agree. When he first came to us I was in awe at the way he controlled the ball and glided around the pitch with his neat footwork spraying sublime passes to his mates. I named him on my Holmesdale profile as my favourite player.

However his contribution in last night's game showed up the inconsistency that we have often commented about on here. It must have been evident even to Lanzo. Certainly there were times when I shouted at the TV for the ball to be passed to him. He moved into spaces, but seemed invisible to the others. He missed a sitter and offered very little fire power in what was a dull, dreary and unexciting game. I would not be at all surprised if he doesn't hold down a regular place at Arsenal.

Arteta may be able to influence a change in the way he plays, but I doubt his ability to improve a player is any better than Ollie's.

I thought the opposite to be honest. He moved around into half spaces but never really looked like he wanted the ball. He was tidy enough when it came to him but I never saw him once gesture “give me the ball!” Never looked like he was going to do what we know he can do outside the box. On the rare occasion he ran into the box he fluffed his lines and missed the target. Maybe it’ll take time for him to get used to new teammates and a different position but if he wants to nail down number 10 at Arsenal or for England he has work to do.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

I thought the opposite to be honest. He moved around into half spaces but never really looked like he wanted the ball. He was tidy enough when it came to him but I never saw him once gesture “give me the ball!” Never looked like he was going to do what we know he can do outside the box. On the rare occasion he ran into the box he fluffed his lines and missed the target. Maybe it’ll take time for him to get used to new teammates and a different position but if he wants to nail down number 10 at Arsenal or for England he has work to do.

He has.
Particularly on the defensive side of his game. Arteta won't be as understanding of his vaguely in the way method of tackling. Strange to think that Will Hughes might have more of an impact in the Arsenal team.

 

[ASCPFC]

On current form, Grealish should be in Eze's position for England. I don't know his stats but I know they're high currently.

 

[Team of the (20)80s]

Yeah, clearly wasn’t a great game by him.

Agree he always went through phases like this, I’m not expecting him to be the ‘first name on the team sheet’ for Arsenal but hope, for his sake, Arteta uses him when he does hit form because there are few bette lr than him at his best.

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

He will be ruined in the English style of not appreciating the brilliance of some players, Foden, Grealish, are two examples, you can go back 40 years, LeTissier, Hoddle, Bowles, Worthington, Currie, etc, hardly any caps, yet Batty 42 caps, that is why England has won Sweet FA for 59 years, trying to make all players uniform.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

He will be ruined in the English style of not appreciating the brilliance of some players, Foden, Grealish, are two examples, you can go back 40 years, LeTissier, Hoddle, Bowles, Worthington, Currie, etc, hardly any caps, yet Batty 42 caps, that is why England has won Sweet FA for 59 years, trying to make all players uniform.

Add in Hudson, McKenzie, Marsh, Charlie George, etc.
It's not just England. Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes both have more Scotland caps than either Jimmy Johnstone or Jim Baxter. They play more games now but even so that is a travesty.

 

[DenTyler]

All very interesting points of view. I agree with all of them…

I also feel Eze was ‘possibly’ at his ‘peak’ when he played for us. He was adored at Palace, and his performances reflected this. We forgave him when he made mistakes, because there were some games he virtually got us the 3points on his own.

The saying…’the grass is always greener’….springs to mind…he desperately wanted to test himself at the top level - so it will be interesting to see how his career either progresses or stalls at Arsenal

I’ve found far too often that the grass is far from greener on the other side, more often than not it’s a brown muddy cow field full of dung.

 

[Spindle]

And s*** fans

 

[Fanofzhiyi]

He will be ruined in the English style of not appreciating the brilliance of some players, Foden, Grealish, are two examples, you can go back 40 years, LeTissier, Hoddle, Bowles, Worthington, Currie, etc, hardly any caps, yet Batty 42 caps, that is why England has won Sweet FA for 59 years, trying to make all players uniform.

Vieira was guilty of that as palace manager, remember Eze struggled to get in his team and shone after he left. Some players are better with freedom, depends on the coaches tactics

 

[cryrst]

I thought spurs under franks would have been the better move for him imho.
Would be given more pitch time to adapt to the team. Him and richarlson would be a good pairing.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

I thought spurs under franks would have been the better move for him imho.
Would be given more pitch time to adapt to the team. Him and richarlson would be a good pairing.

And Spurs don't expect to win the league anyway. They say they do but they don't. And they shouldn't because if they do they're deranged.

 

[mileend]

Tonight might have been a farewell to Eze's England chances
Could have had a couple of goals against Andorra - but needed that second touch he didn't take at Wembley in the semi-final and final
Now he's behind Rogers, Palmer, Foden, Bellingham for the number 10 position
Wide players are Gordon vs Rashford and Madueke vs Bowen vs Saka
He'll need to be insanely good for the Arse to get another chance

 

[Jim_Cannon]

Tonight might have been a farewell to Eze's England chances
Could have had a couple of goals against Andorra - but needed that second touch he didn't take at Wembley in the semi-final and final
Now he's behind Rogers, Palmer, Foden, Bellingham for the number 10 position
Wide players are Gordon vs Rashford and Madueke vs Bowen vs Saka
He'll need to be insanely good for the Arse to get another chance

Maybe, long way to go and form, injuries and probably a bit of luck will decide who goes. Do agree does look like he has take a step back and is less certain of going to the World Cup than he looked in June

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Tonight might have been a farewell to Eze's England chances
Could have had a couple of goals against Andorra - but needed that second touch he didn't take at Wembley in the semi-final and final
Now he's behind Rogers, Palmer, Foden, Bellingham for the number 10 position
Wide players are Gordon vs Rashford and Madueke vs Bowen vs Saka
He'll need to be insanely good for the Arse to get another chance

Grealish is on the comeback trail too and Mainoo will only have to take a throw in to get back.

 

[mileend]

Although having one of my good days being super cynical my question is that it wouldn't be so bad for Palace if Eze struggles to get game time / impact at the Arse and England progress stalls

He / those in his position must be thinking I love this winning trophies thing, I'll go somewhere where the winners medals are more likely (not last year pal)

But if you are the small fish in a big pond then you may never get the chance to play then those memories of 40,000 singing and jumping to 'Eze on Fire' will be a wisp of a memory

Summed up by the 'grass isn't always greener' aphorism

 

[RubinsCube]

Although having one of my good days being super cynical my question is that it wouldn't be so bad for Palace if Eze struggles to get game time / impact at the Arse and England progress stalls

He / those in his position must be thinking I love this winning trophies thing, I'll go somewhere where the winners medals are more likely (not last year pal)

But if you are the small fish in a big pond then you may never get the chance to play then those memories of 40,000 singing and jumping to 'Eze on Fire' will be a wisp of a memory

Summed up by the 'grass isn't always greener' aphorism

Not to mention echos of Wilf at Man United. Who knows if a future return could be on the cards in a year or two. That said he's a top talent and I think he'll be a hit there.

 

[MrRobbo]

Although having one of my good days being super cynical my question is that it wouldn't be so bad for Palace if Eze struggles to get game time / impact at the Arse and England progress stalls

He / those in his position must be thinking I love this winning trophies thing, I'll go somewhere where the winners medals are more likely (not last year pal)

But if you are the small fish in a big pond then you may never get the chance to play then those memories of 40,000 singing and jumping to 'Eze on Fire' will be a wisp of a memory

Summed up by the 'grass isn't always greener' aphorism

Love him as I do, I'm also a partly in this camp. It feels a bit dirty, but I cant help it.

(I didn't feel this way with AWB, Wilf, AJ, Bolasie...maybe because the gulf to the top was much bigger, so I wanted them to show the world how good palace players can be? Maybe because he called Arteta up?)

He may be in a spot of bother with England. Didn't make the team yesterday, and England looked good. Unlike his time at Palace, he cant afford to be anonymous or miss chances, with other top players chomping at the bit.

Rogers must be ahead of him in that no10 spot. Madueke certainly looks more dangerous out wide. And this is a team without Bellingham, Palmer and Sako. Grealish also on the way back too.

At present I only see his stock falling. But can he rise to the occasion....

 

[Spindle]

Rogers played centrally. Eze is never going to do that. Wharton could replace Rogers with that type of play but not Eze.

 

[park the bus]

He's not international material. Ok at a club sympathetic enough to excuse all the foibles, less so at international level where consistency is key and the manager has a number of players on call.