'Why things will never be same again for super-talented Eze'

Talk about arriving on the scene as an Arsenal player.

Eberechi Eze did that in style with his hat-trick against Tottenham - and things will never be the same for him again.

We already knew Eze was super-talented from his time at Crystal Palace, and he had made a good start to his Arsenal career, showing glimpses of brilliance.

But the ultimate test when you are at a huge club like Arsenal is what you do in the big games, so Sunday's 4-1 north London derby victory was the perfect occasion for him to produce his best performance in a Gunners shirt.

Eze is an Arsenal fan too of course, which made his day even more special. He became the first player to score a hat-trick in this game since 1978, and it actually looked effortless for him.

As I said on Match of the Day, he was a joy to watch and he has a wonderful knack of making the game look wonderfully easy.

His finishing for all three of his goals was superb, but so was his skill, his movement and his ability to find space. He is two footed and being comfortable on both sides means he is elegant and moves the ball beautifully.

Eze was brought in to unlock defences that sit deep like Spurs did, and he showed off every aspect of his game.

After a performance like that, he will feel like he is walking on air for the next few days, but the fact he did it in this fixture will mean things are different for him going further forward too.

'Eze will feel like he can try anything'

I know from experience there are certain games where, if you are the player who makes the difference, the fans never forget it.

I had been a Liverpool player for more than three years when I scored my first winner for them against Manchester United in 2000. I was used to being asked for autographs and people talking to me, but that goal against our biggest rivals suddenly elevated everything to a different level.

I was now the player who had scored that goal for us, and against them. It was like people saw me in a different way, and certainly thought more highly of me, because I had given them this joy in a fixture that meant so much to them.

It will be the same for Eze now and the immediate effect of his hat-trick is that, in the next few games, he will be so full of confidence he will feel like he can try anything because he cannot do anything wrong.

Whenever he next walks out on the pitch, whether it's against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday or Chelsea in the Premier League next weekend, he will feel he has the fans 100% behind him, because they adore him now more than ever.

It will be the same whenever he gets on the ball, too. You know the fans love you and that transfers to your game. You are thinking "give me the ball, what am I going to do next?" The feeling is amazing, and he will want to express himself and show the world how good he is.

That's the buzz you get and it applies to any player scoring a hat-trick in a game of this size, but it always means a bit more when you are a fan of the team you do it for - it really does.

You feel a warmth from the supporters it is very hard to get if you've not grown up knowing it yourself.

I'd been at Old Trafford as a Liverpool fan watching them play there, so I understood what beating United meant to our supporters, the same as Eze will know what beating Spurs means to Arsenal fans.

What he did on Sunday will live with him forever, and the supporters will know he gets it too.

So he is going to have an incredible few weeks. The only slight danger when something like this happens is you get carried away and start to think you really are amazing and things will just happen for you in games - it doesn't work like that!

But Eze is such a humble guy he would never think like that anyway. His work ethic shows you what his attitude is like and, against Spurs, he was still chasing players back into his own half from a corner even after he had scored his hat-trick.

There are some players who I watch now and really want to do well, whoever they play for, because they are such likeable characters - and Eze is one of those.

He has done things the hard way to become an Arsenal and England player at the age of 27 and his story, having been released by Arsenal's academy aged 13, makes it even more incredible.

Eze is the type of player Arteta can rely on. He's creative, he's confident and he's a game-changer. I called him a "wow footballer" on Match of the Day because he excites me so much, and I am looking forward to what comes next for him too.

The only dilemma for Arsenal is they have got Martin Odegaard and Eze who can both play as wonderful number 10s.

Who does Arteta pick? It's a great problem to have.

Competition has enhanced performances

If things had gone differently in the summer, Eze could have been lining up against Arsenal on Sunday rather than playing for them.

It probably makes the defeat even more painful for Spurs that a player they tried to sign ended up scoring a hat-trick against them.

But Eze's achievement was just the icing on the cake for Arteta's side, because there were outstanding performances right through their team.

Mikel Merino was playing out of position again at centre-forward but caused Spurs so many problems. Jurrien Timber's performance at right-back was as good as I've seen from anyone in that position for a long time - he is in the conversation with the likes of Achraf Hakimi now as being among the best in the world.

We've already seen Cristhian Mosquera come in for William Saliba and fill in without any problems and now we've seen Piero Hincapie come in for Gabriel and look dominant too.

When Arsenal signed Mosquera and Hincapie in the summer, we talked about how they had added to their depth on paper, but we are seeing the strength of their squad on the pitch now too. It has created a competition for places that has enhanced everyone's performances.

'Ominous for everyone else'

Arteta must be delighted to see the levels his players are at, not just in terms of their technical ability but also with their physicality and work-rate.

All of them are willing to give everything because they know if they don't, they won't play - and Arteta deserves great credit for that. He has created a mindset where the hard work is as important as their attacking play, if not more so.

They don't carry anyone and even up front, Viktor Gyokeres, who was missing against Spurs because of injury, has epitomised their attitude to pressing.

You know it doesn't matter who plays, they will all be at it defensively. That obviously takes discipline mentally, but physically they all look ready too.

Every aspect of their game is exactly where it should be and they look so full of belief in what they are doing.

One of the thing that impresses me the most is you can see that, even if they have an off day with the ball, it doesn't look like they are going to ever have an off day without it.

They look like a powerhouse, a unit that is focused on winning games and is desperate to put the last few years of finishing second in the Premier League to bed.

The way they are playing at the moment is ominous for everyone else, because it is hard to see how anyone is going to challenge them.