Oliver Glasner says Arsenal have a player who can ‘decide games on his own’

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Oliver Glasner believes Arsenal have a player at their disposal who is capable of deciding games on his own.

The Gunners have assembled an outstanding squad in recent years, bolstered significantly by Andrea Berta’s £250 million spending spree over the summer.

This approach of providing Mikel Arteta with an abundance of quality in every single position appears to be paying dividends, as the North Londoners currently sit top of the Premier League after eight matches.

One of Berta’s summer signings is yet to hit the ground running in a red and white shirt, although Glasner has provided an optimistic outlook on the player.

• READ MORE: Confirmed Arsenal summer 2025 transfer ins and outs, signings and done deals

Oliver Glasner heaps praise on Eberechi Eze

Arsenal host Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon in what will be Eberechi Eze’s first game against his former club.

The England international scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists in a productive final season at Selhurst Park, leading the Eagles to an FA Cup triumph.

Eze has struggled to replicate this form at Arsenal since his £67.5 million move in the summer, although there are few question marks over whether he will eventually start producing.

Glasner certainly doesn’t doubt his former star player, heaping praise on the 27-year-old in his press conference on Thursday night.

“We lost definitely a player who could decided games on his own,” Glasner said.

“It’s also fact and and it’s sometimes for me, especially today, after such an emotional game or such a defeat, it’s good to look at the facts and you know my staff look at the stats and I think we have the highest xG in the whole Premier League.

“Crystal Palace after selling Michael [Olise] and Eze, and bringing in Yeremy Pino and Ismaila Sarr. This is credit to the players, this is credit to the team, not to the individuals, to the whole team.

“Crystal Palace having the highest xG in the whole Premier League in front of City, Arsenal, Liverpool, all these teams, just shows how much effort this team shows every single game and and so yes, of course, everybody who likes Crystal Palace would like to have Michael and Ebs still in the squad, but on the other side, it shows that we also can create enough chances to score goals.”

Eberechi Eze can exploit his former club on Sunday

Arteta has changed his system somewhat this season, deploying Declan Rice slightly deeper alongside Martin Zubimendi.

This has freed up the creative man in Arsenal’s midfield to play more of a free role, as more of an out-and-out number ten.

Eze should theoretically be well-suited to take advantage of this system change, and Palace could be the ideal opposition for him to exploit.

The South London outfit set up in a 3-4-3 system, with Adam Wharton usually alongside one of Daichi Kamada or Will Hughes in the middle of the park.

This should create space for Eze to creep into areas in between this double pivot and the back three, as Palace don’t have one default number six who sits in front of the back four.

In theory, the former Queens Park Rangers man should be the free man and should be able to create overloads either in the left or right half spaces.