Happy match day, boys and girls. Well, it will be if we win; otherwise, curse this infernal day.
It’s Everton at The Emirates, and yesterday Mikel Arteta and David Moyes had their respective press conferences. I want to obviously focus on Arteta’s press conference, which I thought was one of the best that he’s done ever, such were the good questions that were asked. But before I do that, let’s have a couple of sentences on what Mr Moyes of Everton said.
Jarred Branthwaite is expected to be fine to play, so that’s another big physical centre half they have to go with the likes of Tarkowski and Keane also in there to protect Pickford in goal. As I said yesterday, it will be a bit of a [war of attrition](https://www.suburbangooners.com/2026/03/13/arsenal-face-the-attritional-game-of-the-season-against-everton-tomorrow/) for us today, and Moyes did say he wants to keep it “tight” this evening, which I think we all know means that they will be compact and ask us to break them down. They will go long; Pickford is well-versed in that, and with teams like Leverkusen realising that repetitive long balls over the midfield press is a way in which you can unsettle Arsenal, I think that will be their primary approach to hurting us today. Beto will be asked to battle with Gabriel and Sliba, and I hope that they fare better than they both did against Kofane in midweek.
As for Arteta’s press conference, he was asked about whether he wants the Scum to go down, his thoughts on Hurzelers’ new comments, as well as the current style of play in the Premier League. We all know that we have been the whipping boys this season, we all know that the media and rival fans like to bash us like nobody’s business, but I thought Arteta’s insight was fascinating. He talked about how he watches Barcelona in Spain and how Newcastle completely changed the type of game by going man-to-man, and it was those man-to-man comments I found the most interesting, because he’s spot on. This league has become one of duels; the Premier League is a battleground for physicality, and that means you get these big, powerful teams coming up against each other and nullifying. Football is great to watch when there is plenty of space for players to run into, but if everyone is going man-to-man, that space naturally disappears. The media and rival fans can bash Arteta and Arsenal all they like, but teams are gravitating _towards_ this style of play, not away from it, so there will be more sides who become ‘boring’ over time. Football is like fashion; things come in and out. There was a time when Conte was at Chelsea that everyone started playing three at the back. Inverting the full back – something Arteta asked Zinchenko to do – is now done by at least five or six teams in the Premier League, by my reckoning. The current trend is for set pieces and throw-ins, and Arteta even said – if you want to change the way the game is played, make throw-ins 4-second timers. Then ban man-to-man marking, because that will completely change the game.
So to today,in which he comes up against his old manager, with whom he obviously has a lot of respect for and love for I think. He was his boss for many years and Arteta described him as one of the greatest ever Premier League managers. I think for the fact he’s been in the league for so long you have to say “fair play”, but I’m not sure I’d go as far as to say he’s been one of the greatest. If you’re picking a top ten, I’m not sure Moyes squeeks in there for me. But he does know how to set up a side to not concede goals; Everton have the second-best defensive record in the whole league, having only conceded 33 all season (we’re on 22). So if you’re looking at this game being a goal-fest, maybe find somewhere else to watch your football, because if Arsenal win this, it will be by a cagey 1-0 I would guess.
Who could be the person to get that potential goal? Well, for me, I think Arteta needs to make a few changes today. I have a sneaky feeling that Havertz was used sparingly in midweek because of this game; given the opposition and their likely deep block set up, we need attackers with guile. That ain’t Viktor Gyokeres, and I don’t think it is Martinelli, so even if Trossard isn’t fit to start today, I would maybe try Madueke in there instead of the Brazilian. He was poor against Mansfield, I thought he was pretty poor against Leverkusen, but that happens for him when we’re up against the type of side that sit deeper. I’m a bit of a broken record on this ine, but Martinelli is a green grass forward; he likes space to exploit and we won’t get that in behind today. So for me, if he’s fit, you have to play Trossard there, or Madueke, then Havertz up top and Saka on the right. Bukayo had a shocker in Germany, of that we all know, but he’s a quality player and he will offer something. In fact, today is the sort of day in which I think he might have some extra motivation after his poor midweek showing and being hooked on the hour.
The other question Arteta might have are whether he selects White and Calafiori at right back, which I would definitely be tempted to do, because White overlapping Saka feels like something that would work in a game like this one. But I suspect that’s unlikely to happen. Calafiori is probably more likely on the other side though, and given we are expecting to spend most time in the Everton half, him popping up in those spaces between the left winger and the left eight feels like it creates that bit of chaos that we might need in a close and tight game.
Everton caused us problems last season. We left it late in 2023/24 as they continued to frustrate us on the last day of the season. In 2022/23 and 21/22 we gave them spankings of 4-0 and 5-1, but there’s no chance we get that today. I just want a win. You just want a win. By any means necessary. Another cup final today – make it count Arsenal.