Wayne Rooney questions Eberechi Eze despite Tottenham heroics

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney claimed that, despite Eberechi Eze's good performances for Arsenal in the North London derby, he has not looked particularly impressive otherwise.

Eze had a brilliant performance over the weekend for Arsenal, where he scored two crucial goals in a 4-1 demolition of Tottenham. He scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture, putting Arsenal 4-1 up on the night in November 2025. Those two performances have been his best performances for the club this season, and it does not take a genius to figure that out.

However, he has only scored one goal apart from those two matches, and he has not looked particularly great in many of the matches that he has played so far. Rooney talked about it after the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where he discussed the struggles that Eze has faced in the games that did not involve Tottenham.

Wayne Rooney questions Eberechi Eze despite Tottenham heroics

He said: “I disagree a bit [with the praise that Eze is getting] because I don’t think Eze’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.”

Honestly, Rooney does have a point.

It is also worth noting that this is Eze's first season in red. He has not been great in many games, but that is because of how much of a change it is coming from Crystal Palace to Arsenal. The level of tactical input from the manager and the differences in styles of play are very, very big, perhaps too big to ignore.

It takes time for players like Eze, who rely on creativity and freedom, to get used to it. However, it is also worth noting that despite these challenges, Eze has performed admirably in two of the most important games on the Arsenal calendar.

Games against Tottenham, regardless of their form, are always crucial. It showed how much Eze loves the big occasions. We saw that for Crystal Palace last season, and now we are seeing it sporadically at Arsenal.

Obviously, fans would want that to happen more often, and Eze himself would probably want that to happen more often, but these things cannot be ignored. Rooney definitely has a point and he is not in the wrong here, because Eze has to improve in other games and be more consistent.

Despite his struggles, he has turned up in two of Arsenal's most crucial games of the season. Hopefully, this game makes him a bit more confident and consistent as a football player for the remainder of the campaign.