Loss Premier League: Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal | Saturday 4th, February | KO: 12:30 GMT| BT Sport

This should be relatively straightforward, the new manager bounce not withstanding.

The starting xi picks itself, unless Partey is not fit enough to start and Lokonga takes his place.

 

[db10_therza]

Been out this evening but the game still weighing heavy on my mind. A few thoughts:

- Why is Nketiah not encouraged to drift out to the wings to link up they way Jesus does? I'm not buying this idea that he can't do it. Yeah he can't do it to the level that Jesus does but hardly any forwards in world football can. But he didn't do it ONCE. Makes our play really predictable at times. Switch out to nelli/saka who then either try get to the by line or try a give and go with Ødegaard/xhaka. Rinse and repeat. Some of the chaos has gone from our attacking play.

- Pretty sure sth isn't right with BW. We joke about it but for real. Tomi should be starting and Ben needs to purge his demons.

- If we're not going to be providing ANY options to our lw, either from the fb or the left 8, then we should be playing trossard instead of martinelli. But really I don't understand why we need both Zinchenko to invert AND Xhaka to stay compact. Xhaka only really started making those runs of his after the 70th minute.

- WTF has happened to our set pieces?

- It's sometimes easy to forget that we have a ridiculously young attack. They sometimes lack composure, and it shows. Nketiah when he took that shot - the fact that it was such an awful attempt kinda distracts you from the fact that Martinelli had made a REALLY good run and was a very simple ball away. Saka with that right foot volley - don't get me wrong I never expected him to get that on target with his weaker foot. But it was SO similar to the situation Mitoma found himself in against liverpool. I reckon he could have tried to flick it over the onrushing defender with his right and almost certainly would have got a penalty as that guy (don't remember who it was) was fully committed.

- When one or two players have an off day, you take a long hard look at them. When half the team has an off-day, it's somewhere else you should be looking... We did not look ready for that game. Which is weird, coz everyone knew exactly how Dyche would approach this.

- In the big scheme of things, it's not the end of the world. Complacency is a fact of life. It's almost inevitable you start coasting at some point when everything is turning up roses. It's better we get brought back down to earth now than in the proper run in. City will drop points this season, they're just not the same outfit. I still think we're favourites, but only just.

 

[andeoch1]

That city game showed me we can beat them, I am very confident we will win in a couple of weeks times at the emirates.

Win against Brentford and beat city and we’re laughing, this game will be completely forgotten. Have to keep our heads.

I F*****g hope you are right

 

[MA08]

It was a tough game. The one concerning thing was how we conceded from the corner. I think there was a need to have Tommy as a left back for that extra physicality.
I also think he took off Martinelli too soon.We were drawing when he was taken off and conceded right after that. Which meant we could not switch to 3-3-4 with two strikers, due to not having enough on the bench.
Anyways it is important to win the next game and not to lose against City.

And we all know Sp**s are going to lose today. I don’t think they will even put up a fight

 

[andeoch1]

Been out this evening but the game still weighing heavy on my mind. A few thoughts:

- Why is Nketiah not encouraged to drift out to the wings to link up they way Jesus does? I'm not buying this idea that he can't do it. Yeah he can't do it to the level that Jesus does but hardly any forwards in world football can. But he didn't do it ONCE. Makes our play really predictable at times. Switch out to nelli/saka who then either try get to the by line or try a give and go with Ødegaard/xhaka. Rinse and repeat. Some of the chaos has gone from our attacking play.

- Pretty sure sth isn't right with BW. We joke about it but for real. Tomi should be starting and Ben needs to purge his demons.

- If we're not going to be providing ANY options to our lw, either from the fb or the left 8, then we should be playing trossard instead of martinelli. But really I don't understand why we need both Zinchenko to invert AND Xhaka to stay compact. Xhaka only really started making those runs of his after the 70th minute.

- WTF has happened to our set pieces?

- It's sometimes easy to forget that we have a ridiculously young attack. They sometimes lack composure, and it shows. Nketiah when he took that shot - the fact that it was such an awful attempt kinda distracts you from the fact that Martinelli had made a REALLY good run and was a very simple ball away. Saka with that right foot volley - don't get me wrong I never expected him to get that on target with his weaker foot. But it was SO similar to the situation Mitoma found himself in against liverpool. I reckon he could have tried to flick it over the onrushing defender with his right and almost certainly would have got a penalty as that guy (don't remember who it was) was fully committed.

- When one or two players have an off day, you take a long hard look at them. When half the team has an off-day, it's somewhere else you should be looking... We did not look ready for that game. Which is weird, coz everyone knew exactly how Dyche would approach this.

- In the big scheme of things, it's not the end of the world. Complacency is a fact of life. It's almost inevitable you start coasting at some point when everything is turning up roses. It's better we get brought back down to earth now than in the proper run in. City will drop points this season, they're just not the same outfit. I still think we're favourites, but only just.

Brilliant post

 

[andeoch1]

@BigPoppaPump

All jokes aside, Saliba is slightly Kos like when you watch him.

Both very good (William with a higher ceiling) but something off about the way he does some things.

Especially when you compare him to Gabriel, who I thought was very strong back there...Saliba got a little rattled, not for the first time either.

He’s also still learning his trade, to be fair

 

[Tom Mix]

That Partey sub was definitely pre planned, clearly a little injured.

The main issue with him, you can't really trust him to be fit...and he's our most important player too, ffs!

Think Vieira only had 1 season in 9 for us, were he didn't make at least 30 league appearances...while the only real time Gilberto was out for us was when he literally broke his back, but he wasn't even injury prone after that.

Miss that kind of reliability/availability from Thomas, can't lie.

So what was the big idea in playing him on the FA cup game then? Still waiting for the advocates of this to defend their viewpoint. Not that I'm expecting them to. People here are vociferous in stupid opinions before games and slink quietly away when their daft ideas are exposed.

 

[andeoch1]

Well if they’re blocking you’d want someone bigger than Ødegaard to block Tarkowski. Obviously Ødegaard should have just done a better job of it anyway.

Tarkowski is no giant, it comes down to desire- the desire to challenge the ball. If Ødegaard ever went to an Irish wake, he’d be thrown around the place like snuff. Man up you f**kin lightweight captain

 

[rockofcashel]

Our game in hand over City are these goons at tge Emirates.. let's batter them there

 

[Gunners1616]

It's very easy to speak after the game but i really think Mikel should change his approach when we go to places like Everton and Southampton. The sexy football is not enough over there. It's 80% about how we can sustain the physical match-ups.

He needs to play the players you can trust in those physical games. I really think Tomiyasu and Tierney should have started at Everton. They are more equiped for the defensive battles than BW and Zinchenko.

Also Ødegaard has almost always struggles in those physical away games in the past. Reinforcing the midfield with Jorginho was also an option.

I understand he wants to impose our style on the whole league but you just can't hide from the physical battles in the PL so there is no shame in changing the starting 11 when you know what to expect...

 

[Gn1212]

It's very easy to speak after the game but i really think Mikel should change his approach when we go to places like Everton and Southampton. The sexy football is not enough over there. It's 80% about how we can sustain the physical match-ups.

He needs to play the players you can trust in those physical games. I really think Tomiyasu and Tierney should have started at Everton. They are more equiped for the defensive battles than BW and Zinchenko.

Also Ødegaard has almost always struggles in those physical away games in the past. Reinforcing the midfield with Jorginho was also an option.

I understand he wants to impose our style on the whole league but you just can't hide from the physical battles in the PL so there is no shame in changing the starting 11 when you know what to expect...

Dunno mate, Arsenal is by far the best team in the league away from home. The table reflects that too so Arteta has got it predominantly right in that aspect this season.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Well said. I think Nketiah was quite bad like Martinelli. Worst games from both I think. It's not easy when your striker and LW both have a bad game.

Yeah fair points about Eddie & Martinelli they certainly couldn't affect the game but as said I think credit must go to Everton. Even Saka struggled & he is easily the best all round 'footballer' in that front 3.

 

[gunner4lyfe]

nothing wrong with this we won 16 from 20 playing like this but our wingers are isolated and little support Arteta need to change the shape bit more just allow White and Zin to overlap more you can't expect Martinelli to preform wonders when he alone against tow defenders same with Saka.

Once teams start doubling up the full backs need to be instructed to overlap because once Sake or Martinelli pass the ball back they basically have to reset. One thing that would have helped the game overall was Eddie though. He completely disappeared bar a few moments.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Maupay was casually strolling out post match. Should have been careful as Ty could be lurking

Maupay is an absolute b to play against & really winds me/Arsenal up.
Has to be said came across decent there & when he comes out after the game holding his baby you can't really hate on him.
Sort of player would get cult status if on ur team but you want to punch when playing against you.

 

[MikeVinna]

Our game in hand over City are these goons at tge Emirates.. let's batter them there

Already looking forward to this. Have to destroy them.

 

[MartiSaka]

It's very easy to speak after the game but i really think Mikel should changes his approach when we go to places like Everton and Southampton. The sexy football is not enough over there. It's 80% about how we can sustain the physical match-ups.

He needs to play the players you can trust in those physical games. I really think Tomiyasu and Tierney should have started at Everton. They are more equiped for the defensive battles than BW and Zinchenko.

Also Ødegaard has almost always struggles in those physical away games in the past. Reinforcing the midfield with Jorginho was also an option.

I understand he wants to impose our style on the whole league but you just can't hide from the physical battles in the PL so there is no shame in changing the starting 11 when you know what to expect...

Today physically we were not up to it - looked like all the players were in the same boat. Probably the first game this season it's been the case, so don't know if it's worth bringing in the "physical" players for this type of game. We were also very slow and poor on the ball today; it won't be helped by bringing in the non technicians.

But agree there is a type of game that we struggle against - physical sides that reduce the space between the lines,provide strong defensive support against our wingers and are efficient at crossing into the box.

 

[Ivan the Gooner]

This loss rests squarely on the shoulders of the stupid f*cks who post on this message board. I hate all of you son of a ***** bastards. You make me sick. Go get laid without paying for it for once.

 

[Tnegs]

Everton have been saving up for a good performance all season and just had to use it all against us. Credit to them for playing extremely well shame we couldn’t have played them a couple weeks ago before Dyche came in.

 

[bingobob]

Well if they’re blocking you’d want someone bigger than Ødegaard to block Tarkowski. Obviously Ødegaard should have just done a better job of it anyway.

Tbf we are normally decent from corners so i wouldn't read too much into yesterday's goal.

In zonal marking you should be putting your best headers into the defensive zones. It'd make no sense then to have one of them mark an individual player as you are weakening the zones. Blockers are only there to disrupt the run of an attacker not stop them. Everton were overloading the back post and we dealt with it bar that one time.

Every system has weaknesses generally ours has been more effective than ineffective. Personally Im not worried about it.

 

[tactica442]

Arsenal played their usual game. Everton fought for survival in front of the home fans. This Arsenal team is as strong as their weakest link at the weakest moment. That happened when Ødegaard couldn't cope with holding Everton's scoring defender. That also happened a few times when Arsenal misfired. The team and the manager need to find the right response and maturity to the next PL game. The title is ours to lose.

 

[bingobob]

Rewatched the highlights. On a different day at least draw that game. The team looks a little fatigued, White with a few sloppy passes, a few big chances missed with Everton clearing one off the line. They successfully blocked off Saliba in the back post zone for their goal.