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Arsenal star looks finished under Arteta after the international break

2 days ago 10

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Published Oct 7, 2026, 8:13 AM GMT+1

Matt specialises in football analysis, transfer insight and original feature writing across the Premier League, EFL and Scottish football.

A sports writer for 15 years, Matt graduated with a BA in Sports Journalism in 2018 and has developed particular expertise in Arsenal and the wider Premier League while also reporting on clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Celtic, Rangers and teams across the EFL. He joined Football FanCast as part of its writing team in 2019 before progressing to Assistant Editor and then becoming a Senior Editor in 2021.

His work combines authoritative reporting with data-led analysis, tactical insight and informed transfer assessment. Matt regularly examines how players fit into different systems, what their underlying numbers reveal about their performances and whether transfer targets represent realistic solutions for clubs. His analysis aims to go beyond the headline, explaining not just what has happened but what it means for a team, manager or player.

Matt's journalism has also appeared through the Press Association, with his work featured by Sky Sports and the Daily Mail. He previously served as Arsenal and Premier League Editor at VAVEL and gained first-hand club-media experience with Chesterfield FC. Over his career, he has interviewed figures including Arsène Wenger, Ray Parlour, Alan Smith, Lucy Bronze and Steph Houghton. Matt's voice has been heard across Arsenal Fan TV and Love Sport Radio.

Through his reporting, analysis and features, Matt brings readers credible football insight grounded in research, statistics, tactical understanding and years of experience covering the professional game.

Today, Matt leads Football FanCast's features team as Senior Editor, overseeing the publication's opinion coverage while helping shape its overall editorial standards and content strategy.

In all fairness, Arsenal came into this international break needing a break.

Sure, we may only be five games into the Premier League season but that 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion was a disaster.

Bruno-Guimaraes-Arsenal-Gross REUTERS/Tony O Brien

Mikel Arteta's men will have better days but it presented a fabulous opportunity for many of the squad to go away and reset ahead of a big October for the Gunners. They cannot many more results like that one on the south coast.

This month, they most notably face Harry Kane's Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They will do so buoyed the return to form of Viktor Gyokeres, in particular.

The biggest winners from the international break for Arsenal

The vast majority of the Arsenal squad were in action for their respective nations over the break but for the lesser-spotted Gyokeres, he enjoyed a fabulous time with Sweden.

Gyokeres-Sweden Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via REUTERS

The centre-forward has been alienated from the starting XI for much of the new campaign to date. He has only played 29 minutes in the Premier League thus far and is yet to score.

Therefore, he entered the Swedish camp low on confidence. Well, how quickly things can change in football. Gyokeres scored four goals in four matches for his country and is bang in form. It's precisely what Mikel Arteta needs with Kai Havertz having picked up an injury while playing for Germany.

That said, the route to regular football will not be easy. That's because Mikel Merino also had a phenomenal international break with Spain.

He scored in a 3-1 win over Czechia and then rounded off his period with the world champions by scoring twice, including a classy last-gasp winner, in a 2-1 victory over Croatia.

Spain-Mikel-Merino REUTERS/Vincent West

Just who the manager decides to replace Havertz with will be interesting. Merino offers a similar set of qualities but Gyokeres is certainly the more clinical and powerful of the two.

The biggest losers from the break for Arsenal

For Havertz, this was a nightmare international break. He suffered a robust tackle in a game with the Netherlands and had to be withdrawn. The initial prognosis is that he will miss a few weeks of action with a hamstring problem.

van-de-ven-netherlands-germany-havertz REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw

Sadly for the Gunners, the German was not the only player to pick up an injury over the break. Christos Tzolis had to miss the last week and a bit of the Greece camp after sustaining a hamstring injury that is set to rule him out of October's action. Furthermore, defender Ezri Konsa was sent home from the England camp early with a dead leg.

Speaking of the Three Lions, it has not been a happy three week period for Eberechi Eze.

Truthfully, Eze's selection in Thomas Tuchel's squad came as something of a surprise. After all, he has not started a Premier League match this season and the England boss has made a point of picking players who are playing regularly for their club.

The former Crystal Palace man has still appeared off the bench on a frequent basis but starts have not been forthcoming. He has only started in the Champions League and Carabao Cup this term. In those two games, he has not set the world alight.

He had just two of Arsenal's 26 shots away at Napoli and while he did provide an assist for Max Dowman's opener against Ipswich in the cup, an assist is perhaps overselling it. He simply laid the ball off to the teenager who then did the rest, dancing between the defence before finding the net.

Eze's performances were similarly drab for England over the break, with his performance against Czechia in 3-0 win on Tuesday night drawing criticism.

england-v-czechia-ratings

ESPN wrote at full-time that he 'once again looked uncomfortable in the side and failed to make any real impression.' They further noted that Eze 'lacks the punch of Gordon in attack.'

The worry for Arsenal long-term is that at Wembley, the 28-year-old started the game on the left flank. He has played all of his minutes in that position this season and has not made any sort of positive impact.

Eze vs Czechia

Minutes played

90

Touches

67

Accurate passes

45/48 (94%)

Key passes

Crosses

Shots

3

Shots on target

Successful dribbles

2/5

Fouled

3x

Possession lost

9x

Duels won

7/14

Eze failed to supply a single cross or key pass while all three of his shots were blocked by Czech defenders. He also won just five of his ten ground duels.

Over the summer, Arsenal desperately wanted to sign a new left winger. They did so in Tzolis but the desire was to supplement that arrival with the acquisition of a world-class talent. Eze's England colleague Morgan Rogers was looked at, as was Vinicius Junior.

Eze-England REUTERS/Eva Korinkova

On the evidence of Eze's early season performances, that is no surprise. He is not a left winger and his performance for England this week only served to prove that point.

In all honesty, just a year on from his arrival at the Emirates Stadium, he should be finished in an Arsenal shirt. He's not good enough to play on the left for England or the Gunners and an upgrade must be sought the moment the January transfer window opens.

He will always have that amazing hat-trick against Tottenham to savour but that is about as good as it has got for the attacker since he moved from Selhurst Park to north London.

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