Eberechi Eze believes the England squad's winning mentality can help them achieve World Cup glory this summer. The Arsenal forward says his rollercoaster season, which ended with the club's first Premier League title in 22 years, has helped him grow "massively" and realize his potential.
Eze was one of four Arsenal players—alongside Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Noni Madueke—to win the Premier League. Harry Kane won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, while other England squad members such as Marc Guehi, John Stones, Nico O'Reily, James Trafford, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers, and Dean Henderson also won trophies with their clubs this season.
A Beautiful Experience
Eze will cherish the memories of Arsenal's title parade but says the experience goes deeper and will help England this summer. "It was crazy. A beautiful experience to have that with my friends and family. It'll live with me forever," he said.
"Every year you're one more year experienced and got different things under your belt that are important for the next stage. Winning gives you belief, a trust in yourself that you can go all the way. We'll all be using that for sure."
He added, "I think it's important for a player's confidence to have that under your belt, to experience winning, achieving what you set out to achieve. It gives you a different level of confidence and a lot of players experiencing that is only going to help us here."
Personal Growth
Reflecting on his season, Eze said, "I feel I have grown massively. It's been a season of ups and downs, so many different things I've had to overcome but an enjoyable one and something I want to experience every single year. I want to continue to improve, get better and grow."
It was an eventful first year at the Emirates for the boyhood Arsenal fan. He scored a hat trick in a North London derby, had a standout season, missed a penalty in the Champions League final, and experienced many ups and downs in the title race. Arsenal led for so long, were in the hunt for four trophies in March, but after a loss at Manchester City in April, they showed incredible resilience to win the title.
Mindset and Confidence
That resilience has strengthened Eze's confidence and belief. "Madness. It's where you want to be and experiencing them is only going to turn you into a bigger player and bigger person. You can always fall back on it," he said.
"For me it was enjoyable. That's what you want to be part of. You play football for those moments, those times. To come out of the other side having won is credit to the manager, team, all of us for putting in the work. I'm grateful to God that I'm able to live out these moments and continue to grow as a player."
Eze spoke with confidence even in the searing heat of Kansas City, laughing about wearing his own boots after England's kit was stolen. He says they are adjusting to the climate with each training session, though they are focused on their first game against Croatia.
"It's beautiful to be here in the sun, enjoying preparing for a World Cup. That's what we want. We've been training in the heat for a little while. It's better than before but not the easiest. We'll be ready for sure," he said.
"It's serious for us all. We know that it's going to take everything for us to go all the way. We've all got the right mentality and want to enjoy the whole process regardless of what stage we're at. We're more focused on what needs to be done to achieve what we want to achieve. It's not overthinking about the future and how long we're going to be there. It's the steps to get there. We all have goals of course. We know what the goal is for us. Focus on the next game."
