Wayne Rooney analysing Arsenal’s win over Tottenham (Picture: YouTube)
Wayne Rooney says one of Arsenal’s north London derby heroes has ‘not been good enough’ since joining the club.
The Gunners once again asserted their dominance over Tottenham on Sunday, sealing an emphatic 4-1 win – the same scoreline they won by in the first derby of the season.
Player of the Match Viktor Gyokeres and former Spurs target Eberechi Eze both scored twice as Arsenal thumped Tottenham in their first game since Thomas Frank’s sacking.
The convincing victory restored Arsenal’s five-point lead over title rivals Manchester City and increased Spurs’ relegation fears.
Rooney said Arsenal ‘showed their class’ against ‘not a very good team’ Tottenham and praised Eze’s performance.
But the former Manchester United and England captain was quick to point out that Arsenal’s £67.5m summer signing has ‘not been good enough’ overall this season.
While Eze has starred in both north London derbies, he has largely underwhelmed following his move from Crystal Palace, with five of his six league goals coming against Spurs.
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Eberechi Eze starred in Arsenal’s win over Tottenham (Picture: Getty)
The England international was hooked at half-time during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford last week and then found himself on the bench for the even more frustrating 2-2 draw with Wolves.
After hearing Kelly Somers, the host of his BBC podcast, wax lyrical about Eze’s ‘mentality’ and ‘character’, Rooney responded: ‘I disagree a bit because I don’t think he’s been good enough this season.
‘The two Tottenham games have shined a big light on him but in other games I’ve watched him and not thought he’s been good enough.
@metrosportuk Eze buries Spurs AGAIN 🤭 Arsenal beat Tottenham 4-1 in the North London Derby thanks to two goals from Eberechi Eze and two from Viktor Gyokeres, as the former Crystal Palace midfielder has now scored five out of his six Premier League goals against Spurs. #arsenal #tottenham #northlondonderby #eze #premierleague ♬ original sound – Metro Sport
‘I think a lot of that is probably through not playing consistently, I get that, but when you talk about mentality and character, if I was him I would be trying to make it very difficult for the manager to leave me out, both with your performances and in training.
‘Clearly he’s not doing enough to warrant a place in the team consistently. I get that Martin Odegaard is the captain but you’ve got to make it almost impossible for Mikel Arteta to leave you out.
‘After the first Tottenham game I don’t think he did enough to stay in the team so you just hope now for him he plays better consistently to stay in the game.
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‘I think he needs to perform a little bit better than he has so far this season.’
Eze was expected to be part of England’s squad for this summer’s World Cup at the start of the season but Rooney now suspects he will miss out.
‘I’m not sure Eze will go to the World Cup but he does give you a different option because he can play on the left or in the No. 10,’ he added.
‘Maybe that will be on Eze’s side because those players are so important at a World Cup. In terms of at Arsenal I think Eze is better in the penalty box but Odegaard is better when he’s a bit deeper.
‘He’s very clever and picks up some great positions, his movement is very good, you just want to see a bit more from him in the final third.
‘If you could combine the two of them you’d have a great player!’
Arsenal continue their Premier League title charge against Chelsea next weekend, while Tottenham will be desperate to boost their survival hopes against Fulham.
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