PLAYER PROFILE
Chris Dunlavy analyses the impact of QPR’s Ebere Eze
EZE, Eze, Eze? Not against Leeds, it wasn’t. QPR’s gifted talisman had arguably his toughest game of the season at Elland Road two weeks ago.
For that, his team must carry a portion of the blame. In his post-match press conference,
Hoops boss Mark Warburton was asked about his plan to counter Leeds’ vaunted high press. “You can go round it,” he said. “You can go over it. Or you can play through it.”
Unfortunately, QPR failed to implement any of those strategies consistently. Penned in and unable to hold it up, they mustered just one shot on goal and were beaten 2-0.
All of which meant Eze, the Londoners’ link man and creative heartbeat, was dragged too deep to wreak the sort of havoc that has piqued the interest of Tottenham Hotspur and hung a £30m price tag round the 21-year-old’s neck.
Talent
After last year’s promising breakthrough, Eze’s displays since August have proved what Millwall failed to realise when they released him as a teenager in 2016. Neil Harris, the Lions’ boss, believed the midfielder’s languid demeanour wouldn’t play well at The Den, and was unwilling to adjust his 4-4-2 system to accommodate a roving No.10.
It is certainly true that Eze can look uninterested and lacks defensive nous, but his exceptional technical ability and attacking influence outweigh those deficiencies.
“He’s got all the talent in the world,” said his former youth team coach and FLP columnist David Connolly. “Fantastic ball manipulation skills, a great strike with both feet and a terrific passing range.”
Raw and erratic last term, Eze completed more dribbles than all but nine players. Yet on most other metrics – goals, assists, attempted shots and key passes – he was significantly below the division’s elite players in offensive midfield positions. Think Jack Grealish, Mason Mount and Said Benrahma.
Now, primarily operating in his favoured No.10 role, it is Eze setting the standard. With six goals and four assists in his first 15 appearances, he has already eclipsed last year’s totals, and contributed to more goals than any midfielder with the exception of Hull’s Jarrod Bowen.
He is also third in the standings for shots on target (17) and sixth for passing accuracy (88.4 per cent).
Meanwhile, nobody comes close to his tally of 49 successful dribbles. With his quick feet and rapid acceleration, Eze is the Championship’s answer to Eden Hazard.
It was all there at Elland Road. The skilful dips and weaves. The lazy grace that allowed him to ride tackles and glide over the ground. Eze completed more dribbles against Leeds than any other opponent this season.
Man-marked
Unfortunately, his wider contribution was stymied by his position on the pitch and – more critically – the attention of Stuart Dallas.
When Leeds faced Sheffield Wednesday last month, Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa identified Kadeem Harris as the Owls’ most creative player. Dallas man-marked Harris and barely gave him a kick.
It was a similar story against the Hoops, with Dallas allowing Eze to take possession but then funnelling him down blind alleys, away from goal, or into positions where a teammate – often Kalvin Phillips or Mateusz Klich – could double up. If that didn’t work, he was fouled.
Though rarely dispossessed, Eze managed just one errant effort on goal and finished the match with a pass completion rate of 76.9 per cent, his worst figure of the campaign.
In a recent FLP column, former Swindon striker Sam Parkin warned that Eze would become a marked man.
His treatment at Leeds suggests he already is, as does a statistic that Eze has been fouled more times in his last five games than he was in the previous ten. Life, it seems, is about to get a lot harder for Eze.