David Moyes made clear his respect for the approach of Arsenal.
Everton prepare to play against the Gunners on Saturday in one of the 5:30 p.m. kick-offs, and it will be another opportunity for the Everton manager to meet with Mikel Arteta, one of his former players.
Defensive discipline and standard setting are qualities that the Spaniard has taken from his time on the blue half of Merseyside, and it was Moyes’ turn to credit the work of his counterpart. The Premier League leaders might frustrate critics with their use of dead balls as a gamebreaker and pragmatism, but the results are rewarding their efforts and revealing strategies that other sides are also using.
The Scotsman is not a stranger to being critiqued for his style of play, and he has proved the value of his ideas over time. Successive victories over Newcastle United and Burnley have brought the team into the top ten, and they will hope to continue their good form against Arsenal this weekend.
“[Back-to-back wins were] really important because it keeps us in around the position we've been for a long part of the season. We've been bobbing around the middle of the table; sometimes we've moved up a bit, sometimes we've dropped down. The league has been really tight, whether it be a point or a goal or whatever, it could make a big difference.
“I don't think they'll be fearing us because of the level of the player, but I hope that they will give us the respect which we deserve because we have been performing well enough.
“[Set-pieces] is part of the game. And if there's this thing out there where everybody has to play the beautiful game, and everything has to be perfect, well, if we all done that it would be boring. Football would be boring."