Theo Walcott's Warning on Eze's Performance After Arsenal's Win

Theo Walcott has warned that Mikel Arteta will not gloss over the “little details” after Arsenal opened their Premier League title defence with a commanding 3-0 win over Coventry City – and he picked out one late moment from Eberechi Eze as the kind of thing that could cost a player.

Arsenal cruised through the night at the Emirates. Kai Havertz struck first, Bukayo Saka doubled the lead, and Martin Odegaard added the third as the champions started the new season with the calm authority of a side that knows exactly what it wants.

Eze, though, is still trying to show Arteta where he fits in.

Eze’s late free-kick draws Walcott’s eye

The attacking midfielder began on the bench and only entered the game with 14 minutes left, replacing Christos Tzolis. With the result already secure, it looked like the perfect window to impress, to send a message to the manager.

Instead, one decision stuck in Walcott’s mind: a speculative long-range free-kick in the closing stages that flew high over the bar.

“Eze having that shot at the end… I’m not sure he [Arteta] will be happy with that,” Walcott told Premier League Productions. “I know it’s such a small thing but these are little details that he will look into each individual player if he’s going to be with them throughout the season, that’s just a sign to see.”

For Walcott, that moment summed up the standards Arteta is now enforcing at a club built to compete on every front.

“It’s just a reminder to the guys who aren’t starting that it’s a big, deep squad,” he said. “If you want to be in that starting line-up, there are standards that Mikel will be looking into.”

The message was clear: even at 3-0 up, even on the opening night, nothing is throwaway.

“Don’t forget about me”

Walcott, who knows the demands of the Emirates better than most, praised Arsenal’s collective mindset as much as the scoreline.

“Creating that winning mentality is so important for this team because as soon as you start those habits it’s hard for these teams,” he said. “You saw Coventry, they didn’t know what to do at times, there were too big gaps, too big spaces.”

Arsenal, he felt, still have room to climb.

“Arsenal, when they play with the handbrake off, I wanted to see a little bit more, I felt Arsenal have so more gears to go into and that’s great.”

Where he did push harder was on the substitutes. For him, this is where the internal competition has to burn hottest.

“Even when the substitutions came on, that’s when their chances are to show Mikel, ‘don’t forget about me’,” Walcott said. “I felt some could have done a little bit more coming on maybe, but it’s the first game of the season and you’ve got to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

The warning sits there all the same. This squad is deep, and Arteta is ruthless enough to use that depth.

Tzolis draws Alexis Sanchez comparison

If Eze’s cameo left a question mark, Tzolis’ full Premier League debut for Arsenal did the opposite.

The £34 million summer signing from Club Brugge started and impressed Walcott so much that he reached for one of the club’s modern icons to describe him.

“I like him a lot, he reminds me of Alexi [Sanchez],” Walcott said. “The reason why I say that, when he gets the ball his first touch is positive, his first thought is forward, attack the full-back.”

That was classic Alexis territory at the Emirates, and Walcott sees echoes of the Chilean in the new arrival’s style and intent.

“Alexi would always give the full-back a headache and even wearing the number 17 reminds he of him, I know he moved to the number seven when Tomas Rosicky moved on,” he added.

The comparisons didn’t stop at the shirt.

“There’s something about the way he moves with the ball, he glides on the field, they want to keep on giving it to him as well, I think you can see the confidence is growing and growing,” Walcott said. “He has go a bit more pace about him than Trossard does, so he’s a bit of a hybrid between Trossard and Alexis.”

For a debut, that is high praise. And it came with a promise of more.

“Very impressed,” Walcott concluded. “When he gets fitter and players get to know his game a lot more, but I like what I see so far, really impressed.”

Arsenal have started like champions. The standards are set, the squad is stacked, and even a single wayward free-kick is being judged. In a season where every margin could matter, who adapts fastest to that reality might decide who keeps their place when the real pressure bites.