Regrettably, Arsenal’s aim to resume their winning streak in the Premier League on Saturday night was not successful. Everton put on a defensive masterclass at the Emirates Stadium against our Gunners. The game ended in a barren draw due to the Merseyside club’s defensive solidity and our attack’s lack of a clinical edge.
Like the game against Fulham, Mikel Arteta has been under scrutiny for his decisions, which saw the team fail to take care of the Toffees.
He decided to sub off Declan Rice and Odegaard after the hour mark, a crucial moment when we required goals. Odegaard is obviously the most creative Arsenal player; he could have come up with something to see Arsenal snatch that win. Rice, on the other hand, is valuable for Arsenal with his set piece delivery; he’s a weapon from corners.
One could argue that they rested the midfield duo to manage their minutes. But why manage their minutes ahead of a meaningless Carabao Cup game when Arsenal should have known that them winning their game — with a 10-man Liverpool likely dropping points against Fulham — a result that was going to boost our Gunners title charge?
All of Arteta’s substitutes didn’t help the team gel; in fact, they diminished their chances of winning that game.
Arteta said of withdrawing the midfield duo, “With Declan, I had to take him off because he was feeling something. With Martin it was tactical. I understand. If Ethan comes in and scores, it’s a great sub. If he doesn’t, you’ve taken your captain off. It’s football.”
So if Arteta admits Rice was “dealing with a little niggle for a week or so,” why didn’t he start with Thomas Partey (who’s proven his worth in midfield) from the word go? And if he lost one of his main midfielders, why did he have to completely overhaul the midfield by also taking Odegaard out?
Darren N
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