How Crystal Palace’s ‘Drunken Master’ Eberechi Eze went from academy reject to England star
Eze was without a club when he was 18, but he eventually landed his big break at QPR, where he transformed ‘dour situations into magnificent ones.’
During a trial, Queens Park Rangers coaches were wondering what was wrong with Eberechi Eze.
Were they overlooking something? Was there an underlying issue concealed beneath this pleasant veneer that they hadn’t noticed? How had this incredibly talented 18-year-old ended up without a club and trialling for Championship QPR rather than starring in the academy of one of the other London-based Premier League clubs?
There is no simple answer to that question, but looking into how Eze got to this precarious point in his career reveals how thin the margins can be between dropping out of football and earning an England call-up seven years later after becoming one of the Premier League’s leading stars at Crystal Palace.
Eze, then 14, had been dropped by Arsenal after four years because he was too little. He spent half a season at Fulham and half a season at Reading before leaving. At 16, Millwall offered him a two-year scholarship, but because he was little and a skilled trickster who liked to dribble and entertain, he wasn’t what The Lions were looking for, and he was let go.
Eze had several trials that summer, without a club and at a critical juncture in his football career, but no offers came his way. And, despite the fact that, contrary to a later narrative, he was not seeking a position at Tesco, Eze felt his chances were dwindling.
So there he was, shining in front of QPR’s U23 manager Paul Hall, academy coach Andy Impey, and head coach Chris Ramsay. He was fantastic at receiving the ball. “He got the ball and sailed pass,” he said of his close control.
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“People,” Hall says.
That is something you hear a lot about Eze, in many ways. Ian Holloway, who gave him his first QPR start, described it as “floating.” QPR assistant manager Marc Bircham described it as “gliding.”
“With one movement of his body, he can transform a gloomy moment into a magical moment,” Hall explains. “At QPR, we scout players who can handle the ball — he can do that with his eyes closed.”
So they called to be sure they weren’t missing a nasty attitude, a proclivity for problems, or a lousy personality. Nobody had anything awful to say about Eze. They almost never do.
Hall wonders if prior coaches mistook his sluggish demeanour for a lack of effort.
“I was part of a Jamaica team where the culture is quite laid back,” Hall, who represented the Caribbean country 48 times, says. “I admire players who can make it look so easy.” At the international level, I played with a lot of players like that.
“I believe Ebere benefited from that.” I can think of a few coaches who didn’t like his style and thought he should be rushing around. But I enjoyed the way he played and even encouraged him.”
Hall feels the cage football history he and Impey shared established a bond with Eze, who was famous for dazzling in south London cages long before he became a Premier League star.
.And, although it’s true that football fans are drawn to players who make it appear easy — think Ronaldinho (Eze’s childhood favourite) or Lionel Messi – you can see why a falsely perceived lack of effort may deter some youth coaches
Regardless, the data has always told a different tale. “He was always at the top of the group for hard work for me, in running, that type of thing,” Hall says. “It was just about working more efficiently.” This season, Eze is among the top ten Premier League players in terms of turnovers caused through pressuring.
Eze’s approach at QPR earned him the nickname “Drunken Master” — named by Hall, who enjoys martial arts flicks — based on the film of the same name, in which Jackie Chan is taught to trick fighters by seeming to be drunk.
Every time Eze shimmied, swayed, or lowered a shoulder to beat a player, they would cry “Drunken Master!” at him. “He makes it look easy — which is his name,” Hall explains.
“I’m still waiting for him to explode.” I keep telling him to go blow up the planet because he can. When he’s on form, he’s the best player on the pitch.”
Even yet, going from trialist to £19.5m Premier League star four years later – and worth at least £80m now, according to some estimations – wasn’t easy. A year after joining QPR, it was thought that a lower league loan would aid his transition to professional football, and a half-season with Wycombe Wanderers proved crucial.
“I’m still waiting for him to explode.” I keep telling him that he can blow up the planet. He’s the best player on the pitch when he’s on form.
Even yet, it wasn’t easy to get from trialist to £19.5m Premier League star four years later – and worth at least £80m now, according to some estimates. A year after joining QPR, it was hoped that a lower league loan would help him make the adjustment to professional football, and a half-season with Wycombe Wanderers proved important.
Eze played under former QPR midfielder Gareth Ainsworth, but he has yet to score after five League Two games. To relieve the pressure, Ainsworth took Eze to one side during training the day before the following game, away to Cambridge United, and told him he didn’t need to keep attempting to stick the ball into the top corner.
The next day, Eze delivered two long-range strikes into the top left corner, one with each foot. “I love working with him,” Ainsworth later added. “The older boys are rubbing off on him, complimenting him, making sure he doesn’t get too high and keeps his feet on the floor, but he’s a talent, and I think he’ll be opening a few eyes very soon.”
On his comeback, then-QPR manager Holloway gave Eze a position in the first team. His assistant Bircham, who had previously worked with Raheem Sterling in the club’s academy, told his employer that Eze could run past players more easily than Sterling.
When Eze joined QPR as a teenager, he also met Dan Bernardin, the club’s head of performance. Eze decided to feature in a promotional video for Bernardin’s FSCR, an elite performance and injury rehab clinic.
Eze became an investor two years later, when Bernardin was raising funds to open their first facility in Battersea. Since then, Eze has worked with numerous football players who go to the beach during the off-season.
“He’s a big part of what we’re doing here,” Bernardin says. “One of the beautiful things about FSCR is that professionals, semi-pros, and youth players all train together.”
FSCR provides footballers from professional to amateur levels with training programmes, coaching, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and physiotherapy, as well as support for released academy footballers.
“The young players are always eager to speak with Ebere, and he will sit with them and offer mentoring and advice on his journey.” He’s a well-known figure down here.”
Bernardin recalls receiving a text message from Eze in summer 2022, saying he was catching a long-haul journey back to London from his honeymoon and would be visiting FSCR as soon as he landed. “He came straight from the airport to train!”
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“One of the things we try to instill in our players is emotional control,” Bernardin adds. “If you make a mistake, or someone else makes a mistake, or there’s a bad ref call, the best of the best have emotional control.”
“I’ve never seen Ebere lose his patience or control in the five to six years I’ve known him.” His emotional control is unparalleled in my experience. He’s really humble and never gets too high or low.”
It was much needed after he popped his Achilles tendon on the same day he found out he was in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England team for Euro 2020, and he returned to performing better than ever after the lengthy rehabilitation time. “Emotional control is without a doubt his superpower,” Bernardin explains.
