Arsenal’s loss to Everton in the English Premier League match day 32 to put their hopes of a top 4 finish in jeopardy. Clueless and second best for large chunks of the match, the Gunners never looked like they were capable of leaving Goodison Park with anything. They barely created anything despite having Mesut Ozil on the pitch and did not have a shot on target for the entire 90 minutes! So what really went wrong for Unai Emery’s men?
Make no doubts abut this, Unai Emery has done a fantastic job in his first season as Arsenal manager. He has already gotten as many points as Arsenal did last season under Arsene Wenger with 6 games still left to play. Against Everton however, he got his starting line up horribly wrong and did not make it any better with is substitutions either.
Mesut Ozil, despite his world-class status, should not have started as he does not match up to the opponent’s physicality away from home. Mohamed Elneny has barely had 20 minutes of Premier League football so why start him against a side as good as Everton?
He should also have brought on Alex Iwobi a little earlier as he is the only player at Arsenal capable of beating defenders for pace and power. Emery got his tactics wrong and he needs to do better when they Visit Watford next week!
Midfield’s imbalance
Granit Xhaka was missing from the match day squad due to an injury and his absence on the pitch was clearly felt. Xhaka is Arsenal’s midfield general and whenever he is not playing Unai Emery’s men always seem to struggle. Lucas Torreira was also not available for selection while Aaron Ramsey was benched due to an ongoing groin problem.
It meant that Emery had to pair the ineffective Mohamed Elneny with the talented but very raw and inexperienced Matteo Guendouzi, a disaster combination! The midfield lacked any sort of composure on the ball and creativity especially in the first half, leading Emery to hook off Elneny t half time. For Arsenal to prosper, the midfield needs to be balanced, against Everton, that was never the case and the result showed.
Same old set piece problem
Arsenal’s defending this season has been almost non-existent especially from set plays. The fact that they conceded from a throw-in should tell you everything you need to know on the organization of the Arsenal defense at Goodison Park. There were three touches in the box and none came from an Arsenal player, this has been an Arsenal problem for years and Unai Emery will have to fix it in the coming season if the Gunners are to be serious contenders for a top 4 place.
What do you think was Arsenal’s main undoing in their loss to Everton? Let us know in the comments…