Everton 0-0 Arsenal – efficient performance in bore draw

Satisfactory performance from Arsenal to earn a valuable point.

This game was not a classic that is for sure but it was definitely an improvement from Arsenal on what we saw against Man City last week.

It would be easy to pick negatives but considering the number of changes Freddie made, the lack of confidence, poor form and managerial distractions it was quite a decent performance.

It has to be said that Arsenal never really offered a big threat going forward but I would argue that the same applies to Everton.

This was a game that was fought out in midfield and while Arsenal did not win the battle, they did not lose it either and that in itself is a step in the right direction.

The youngsters certainly brought the energy and players like Xhaka and Torreira were very efficient. Even the defence did well for the most part. I mean, they got a clean sheet.

Both teams appeared to lack confidence and self-belief, basically, they were scared to lose and that is how the game played out.

Mikel Arteta can take some positives from this game, played right the youngsters could really improve fast but the senior players need dealing with. There is always one of them that underperforms.

Overall, it was not a classic performance from Arsenal but it was efficient and we can hold our heads high. There is a canvas that Arteta can work with.

79 Comments

  1. Both teams were highly cautious and Arteta looked worried of what he saw. The draw is acceptable though, because we have horrible away form

    No Gunner stood out, except Saka. He played well in his new role

    Smith-Rowe and Nelson need more games to get used to EPL level. Nelson should have challenged Everton’s fullback more often, but I guess he had a stage fright

    1. I don’t think both teams were cautious. Everton were going for it as was Arsenal. A win for either team would’ve been massive.It just seemed like everything they did cancelled each other out. Imo we should’ve scored a goal today. This is one of our better performances this season even if we are average.

      1. At least the defenders didn’t always force themselves to build the attack from the back

        I believe Arteta could improve their passing ability and organization

    2. The only positive was we kept a clean sheet away from home. Good game from David Luiz. We should look at buying Lewis Dunk in January. Nelson has what it takes to succeed. He just needs composure and more confidence. Martinelli should be played in central forward role.

      1. “nelson has what it takes to succeed”??? can you please elaborate what you saw in him? passing? dribbling? speed? creativity? he has none of those

        1. he has decent ball control. though that’s pretty much it. let’s see if arteta can improve him enough…

          1. Its about mentality for a lot of our young boys. Nelson can do far better than this and so can the likes of Willock, Smith-Rowe and Guendouzi.
            Weeks back Saka looked lost and below average but now he’s doing better. It will come with time because the aura around the team and the performances affect them too

      2. He has it for sure. I saw it clearly today. Like you said, he needs a little more composure and confidence, and then a round off coaching. Don’t mind the detractors.

  2. Even though we were average today it’s clear to see Ljungberg has really improved this team. Its a shame many refuse to see it. The squad is still mentally down and gradually things are changing. Today we defended well in an away match but still couldn’t score. Auba couldn’t get away with a poor in game performance by scoring a goal today.Its another performance which exposes the squad’s shortcomings. Well done Ljungberg and from what I’ve seen so far I believe you are something special and you’ll prove many wrong one day. Its clear if you begun woth us this season we would he far better.This is a match that looked a draw from a long way out. I do think we should’ve beaten them by a goal today. MOTM today was Torreira.

    1. Xhaka and Torreira defended well

      Ljungberg has done what he could, considering his lack of experience as a manager. Arteta will surely have new ideas, since he just came from the defending EPL champion

    2. I agree Kevin, credit to Freddie for getting the team to play with some cohesion. I thought we were the better team in the second half and even played it out well from the back until heavy touches in the last ten let us down. Over to you Mikel.

      1. We had some chances to score a goal if our decision making was better.
        Arteta should be thankful to Ljungberg because he’s improved the mentality of the squad. Now at least we can pass the ball around better, press and be in control of the game

      2. yes but can you tell why they played better? Cause the shirt vendor was absent.Full stop.

        1. Aesenal played well today bcos getting draw at Everton home is not bad, even when we had better team we sometimes lost with wide goal margin there.

    3. Kev, are you joking? Against a piss poor Everton side who hardly could string two passes together we looked ordinary. Where was this improvement last game?? It’s pretty evident Freddie is just 2.0 version of UE and our Academy players are useless. I am lost for words how can you rate freddie Special based on these poor 6 matches. I don’t want him near Arsenal at all as a player yes but In any coaching role no.

      1. I’m not joking. Im being serious and realistic. You speak as if Arsenal has been in form. This was the Everton side that beat a so called in form Chelsea and almost beat Utd but had to settle for a point. Even if we were average today this was our best away performance of the season because we weren’t dominated as we are used to. I rate Ljungberg as special because I can clearly see his good tactics show through the team even after poor performances. Can you with 100% confidence state that Arteta wouldn’t have taken the losses he took?? I will try not to call you deluded after claiming he’s a UE 2.0. We would be far far better had Ljungberg begun with us this season. Now we pass better and even have a better defensive structure. Under Emery it looked like we could nothing but rely on luck to win or draw. I call it as I see it as usual. Maybe Arteta should’ve been appointed right after Emery was sacked to take those losses.

        1. Kev, it’s not the losses I am pointing to if that was the case I would have pointed to todays draw as an achievement. I am pointing out the same pattern in tactics, team selection n substitution as UE. When you talk about improvement what do you see us prove in defence zilch, midfield zilch n attack zilch. Stats wise before this game we have had same goal attempts against us, same possession distribution n same attempts on opponents goal. Where is the improvement. I do know Freddie could not do a miracle in 6 matches but at least we would have seen something different a new approach to things only thing he changed is to play more youngsters who are not up to standard of a big club.

          1. What do you mean by same pattern in tactics, team selection and substitution as UE?? You mean the man that got us playing negative football?? Funny you should mention. Do you know that the draw against Norwich was one of our better performances of the season?? Funny thing is we were average but when you compare that match to the rest of our matches we were actually good. Ljungberg had like only four days to prepare for that match but still you could see that the team was more positive in their play and could’ve won that match but for individual defensive mistakes. Stats dont tell the whole story. You can have 60% possession and on watching the game you lack control of it. Use your eyes. Under UE we had high possession in some matches but it looked like we weren’t in control. We relied on luck to win and draw matches. This is the first match this season that it looked like we weren’t going to concede and actually had control and played through a team’s press for most part. If all the other player’s were so good why would Freddy resort to youngsters?? Even our called record signing is being overhyped. Maybe we’ve watched different games under Ljungberg. As I said, I see an improveememt in our passing, pressing and defensive structure. All these things were non-existent under Emery. Ljungberg also hasn’t gotten much time with the team.

        2. I am not one of those who is result driven, I have always supported the idea of effort n good entertaining football more than result. I don’t want to be a fan who just looks at the score line at the end and not bother to watch the match because it’s booring. I am the one who wants to be entertained by the good football even if we loose so next time I want to watch it n don’t miss it at any cost.

          1. That’s my point. Ljungberg has improved our team play from day one. Didn’t you watch the match against Norwich where he had like only four days to prepare the team due to UE’s sacking?? We were average but tell me one match where we passed that well the entire season? We’ve looked far far more entertaining to watch under FL. I hope even you won’t deny that? You dare not tell me the football is like that of Emery’s which was dire. Let’s not even compare both. How you’re trying to imply Ljungberg is like Emery us beyond me. I can respect your opinon if you don’t rate Ljungberg but saying their both similar on the face of what we see on the pitch is nothing but a plain lie

        3. To say that FL has improved the team is really scraping the barrel. I feel some people have simply made up their minds and will come up with any narrative to fit their views.
          This was a terrible game between two teams low on confidence and devoid of ambition. Both teams played extremely cautiously. There was a lot of sideways and backward passing which has often been criticised before. The team appeared more solid because the full backs were held back and forward passes were very few until the second half.
          If the team had set out to play like this from the beginning of the season they would still likely have lost against the stronger teams and would have played out many drab games.
          Even as bad as Arsenal have been this was not Arsenal’s best away game of the season.

          1. Its not about narrative to fit my views. Many already have the mindset that FL is nothing more than an average coach who has just been asked to be an interim due to no options rather than competence. This team was already low on confidence before Ljungberg took over. It was always going to be difficult to recover from Emery’s negative football and bad tactics. I doubt a team that drew with Utd the previous week instructed to play cautiously at home against a team with a dire away record like that of Arsenal’s. Some of you may think Ljungberg is no better than Emery but I beg to differ. Maybe we watched different matches. We would be far better if Ljungberg started the season with us from what I’m seeing.
            This is easily our best away performance in the EPL even if we were average. Compare it to the rest where Arsenal had no control and relied on luck to draw matches. With better decision making we could’ve even won today

          2. Our best away game was probably west ham as the second half we dominated the game and played football.

            FL did improve the side in their positivity, even if results didn’t go his way, the team started to look more balanced as FL stuck with a formation and players began to play better. We missed xhaka against city and lost our LB, had we kept those that match wouldn’t have been as embarrassing as it was.

            Xhaka looks like a new player under FL, pepe looks better AMN looks better, Chambers looks better and Torreira looks better.

            The team is incredibly imbalanced and Emery for all his faults saw that early on. FL has seen it but we lack the personel to correct it.

            Try not to focus on stats as stats will tell you whatever narrative you want to spin. I’ve seen stats comparing rashford to CR7,Rashford having better stats at this age than CR7 but we all know he’s nowhere near or ever will be near that level of a player.

  3. Before all the negative nancies come, dont forget that we:

    – got first clean sheet in MONTHS
    – didn’t lose against a team who just won Chelsea and drew United
    – had control of the game

    1. No credit will be given to Ljungberg even after being impressive in charge. Even in the losses and draws it was clear his tactics have improved the team. Believe me when I tell you if Ljungberg was bad things would’ve gotten worse as the players are already mentally down from Emery’s football. The draws under Emery were due to luck as the opposition couldn’t take easy chances against us.
      It’s not the ideal result we needed but the improvement is clear for all to see

      1. FL has improved us, the results don’t show it yet. But I believe we will get the results. Europa League should be priority.

    2. Yup. We finally managed to win the ball possession at a tough away match and make the opposition unable to shoot on our goal at all

      Kudos to Ljungberg. I still believe the team would improve more if Ljungberg is kept till the end of the season. The players seem to like him as well

  4. A poor average predictable Arsenal with a predictable result will Arteta change the outcome? see it in the next episode

    1. This site should have a ‘block’ option. @avenger you must be a spud. A poor average predictable arsenal you say, yet we only conceded 9 shots, NINE! we had 57% possession at Goodison Park (when is the last time you saw that?) and still outplayed a team that dominated and thrashed Lampards fancied boys 3-1 went to Old Trafford got a well deserved point by completely outsmarting a united team that was on cloud nine. What I saw today was a team that is surely freeing itself from Emery’s negative philosophy we conceded 22 shots to watford man. That should tell how bad we were.

  5. The worst 90 mins of football in a long time …jjust happy the turnip is moving on elsewhere … Brought nothing to the team … Arteta has a huge task ahead of him that’s for sure … There are only half a dozen players that could make a decent first team line up… rest are average or worse and some are simply taking the club for a ride … Rest of season about finding a game plan

    1. Completely agree…thank God he is moving on. Fans are raving about clean sheet against a poor Everton team who could not attack and suffering them selves. We played one of the worst football game today.

  6. A good result away.Thanks Freddie for improving some players,the best performance I’ve watched in a while. However we could have won this match but as usual he screwed us with those awful substitutions.

  7. Arsenal has fallen to the point of using words like “decent” and “efficient” for this hard to watch match.

    1. it’s just where we are at this moment in time. Better to accept that fact than to magically expect this side to put in top performances. Because they’re not going to do it, and many of them need to go.

      1. Liverpool certainly didnt. They finished 10th despite Klopp in charge after October. They won against big 5 teams though.

  8. 1st Half

    Select all, copy, and paste, from any one of my 1st half reviews from the last few months, if you want to know what happened. Very dangerous cross into the box from AMN…and that was literally it!

    2nd Half

    Much better start from us. Finally, some energy, and passion, with a few challenges going in. More possession in and around Everton’s box without creating a whole lot. Pickford made a decent save from an Aubameyang effort, before Everton came back into the game. Like us, they didn’t offer much in the final third, but we made some decent blocks.

    Overall

    A goaless bore draw. Both keepers hard hardly anything to do, because of a huge lack of quality. Massive job for Arteta in my opinion. Relegation is still a real threat. We should enjoy the clean sheet though, because it could be another few months until we see another!

    Player ratings:

    Leno 6 – Had nothing to do really…for once!
    AMN 6 – One of his better performances
    Chambers 5 – Fairly solid
    Luiz 5 – Fairly solid
    Saka 6 – MOTM For a youngster, out of position, it was a very good performance. Defended well, and made some great forward runs.
    Xhaka 5 – By his standards, a decent game, but he still kills us in midfield. Takes so long on the ball, too many touches, and virtually every pass is backwards or sideways.
    Torreira 6 – Decent performance
    Nelson 5 – Looked ok here and there, but didn’t do a lot
    Smith-Rowe 6 – Some poor early touches, but grew into the game building the attacks. Subbed for Willock
    Martinelli 5 – Worked very hard as always, but no end product
    Aubameyang 4 – Starved of service yet again, but could have done more. Subbed for Lacazette

    Subs:

    Willock 4 – Barely offered anything other than work rate
    Lacazette 4 – Hardly had a touch

    Ljungberg 5 – Starting XI almost picked itself. Dead first half as always, but he must have said something during the break, as we started a lot a better. Surprised Laca didn’t come on earlier, for Martinelli, and Pepe left on the bench again? Nice send off for Ljungberg, and a clean sheet!

    1. torreira gets a 6, the same score as AMN and Smith-Rowe, is beyond me

      the guy covered so much ground, threw his body out, set up our best chance of the day, and made a diving tackle to stop calvin-lewin scoring at the end

      torreira MOTM for me

      1. I marked Torreira down for his constant play-acting. I actually like seeing it, but he does all the time, rendering it ineffective.

    2. Everone should be a 6 apart from Nelson ,Smith Rowe and Aubameyang. Martinelli played better than Smith-Rowe and Torreira was easily the MOTM and outperformed Saka who didn’t offer much in attack today but defended quite well

  9. Sorry, I’m a fan of Freddie, he has improved our play no doubt, improved the mood in the club but thing that’s still piss poor in this team is our Pressing.
    I don’t know exactly which game you’d say we pressed well.
    Look at the way City, and even Everton kept pressing us while we’re with the ball and forcing us to make errors.
    I’m yet to see us press like that this season.
    Hoping it gets better.
    Just because we had a clean sheet doesn’t mean we should also overlook our little flaws. I’m not making a big deal out of anything though as I don’t have expectations for this season

    1. It also comes down to the quality and mentality of the players. Arsenal pressed City a lot in that first half and won the ball off them so many times.
      Even with Ljunberg’s first game in charge at Norwich we pressed a lot even if ineffective at times. Its clear that with Ljungberg we’ve started pressing a lot and that is something which Emery promised and failed us. I was happy with how we played through Everton’s press today

    2. The owner is that SOME fans still DO have expectations. I noticed one fantasist on here this week forecasting we would still make top four. You have to wonder what planet these strange fans come from. I was satisfied today and expected and got, ONLY more work rate. I expected us to lose and we didn’t and could even have won, so I am content! ACTUAL HAPPINESS IS FOR THE FURURE, NOT NOW.

  10. Good result. Solid performance cant believe I’m saying this but we actually defended very well today! Time to get behind Mikel 100%.

    1. Good result and solid performance lol!, We defended well against a team who never attacked. But I do agree with getting behind Arteta hope he has different footballing philosophy and success criteria as compared to some of our fans n ex managers.

  11. It was fine. Less senior players today and we looked much better in terms of our general play. Of course up front we were missing sharpness, Nelson struggles to get into the attack, but overall it was a fine platform for freddie to leave the team at and for Arteta to take over. Xhaka and Torreira were actually great this time around. David Luiz as well which was pretty nice to see. It’s clear there is sooo much work to be done, but I feel like Freddie has done an okay job at stopping the bleeding.

  12. FL really?? Deciding to play Nelson 90mins?? That’s horrible mates, it was evident he was doing nothing upfront

  13. Great to see the kids picked. Expect much more of the same. POOR GAME, FOOTBALL WISE BUT GREAT FOR OUR TEAM ATTITUDE AND WORKRATE, ESP AND MIRACULOUSLY, OUR DEFENCE. For once we actually HAD a defence. Eureka!

    1. I hope not to see our kids again apart from Martenlli n Saka in some appearances of the bench. It was awful Nelson can’t go past a single player, wilock is just so useless he can’t pass,can’t hold on to the ball,can’t score n can’t defend what he does is beyond me. AMN is still clueless about positioning. Smith row needs to play more in second team or send him on loan. If these kids are our future then I am afraid future is not bright .

      1. Mohsan, shame you have not cottoned on to the fact that playing youngsters shows all the older players they are playing for their places and will put a boot up their backside. You have clearly expected more than is sensible and reasonable, given the available fit players we have just now and the depression hanging over the club until MA came in. He will need time and far more patience than fans like you are prepared to show. I really get irritated by posts, like yours, that show no proper thought at all.

      2. truth is our senior players are not better and we are worse with some of them in the squad. It would be ideal to say ozil and Pepe would’ve made us better but we’ve seen that is not true.

  14. Thank you, Freddie 👍👏
    Wow, Chambers picked up MOTM, and Steve Mcmanaman actually praised our defenders *bang, hit the deck*

  15. 2 struggling teams, that were both happy to get a draw.
    For me Saka (as he was plying LB), Torreira and Xhaka were easily our best players.
    Now let’s see if we can improve under Arteta.
    Tough task for him.

    1. Arteta would probably have taken the losses Freddie took. It would be about his tactics that would show if he was anything special.
      Ljungberg has done very well and it’s a shame that many can’t see it. If he begun this season with us we would be doing far better. Our passing, pressing and defensive tactics are better. He was limited by the quality of the players. I hope the same basis which was use to judge him would be used on Arteta. I’ll surely be here to see the comments in the time of failure and success.

      1. Exactly, Kev. I cant think of many managers that would have picked up good results lloking at how Emery left the team. Even if Mourinho came in, let’s remember he has NO defense to at least grind out a 1-0 win with. You can’t do anything with these defenders which makes things 10x harder. The rest of the big 6 at least have one above average defender. We have none.

        1. These pepple are watching something different. If you read my comments here frequently which I’m sure you do you’d realize I’m not a lover of mediocrity. I call it as I see it and on the face of what happens on the pitch. Arteta should consider himself extremely lucky he wasn’t in Ljunberg’s position. The job would probably have been given to another person because at the end of the day no matter how impressive the tactics the results would be the same. He should also be thankful because Ljungberg has made the team have a more positive mindset than the negativee one we saw under Emery. He’s a lucky man

    2. @Innit
      A bit harsh.
      But the PL “interrim period” has shown, he isn’t the solution. Apart from 10-12 minutes against West Ham we haven’t played well at all.
      Today, there was a bit of organization in midfield, which helped our defense.
      But then again, we offered very little in attack.

      1. If Arteta was the assistant the results would probably have been no different. You know why?? It’s because he would be judged based on some few matches where he wouldn’t have been able to fully implement his tactics. The standard at Arsenal would be his downfall because we are a top team and fans would be hoping for a top coach to cone in. I’m talking of if Arteta was in the same situation as Ljungberg. If we judge him relative to the squad and how the team was previously performing then he’s done well. I only hope in the times of failure the same criteria would be used against Arteta this season.Luckily for him he’s had Ljungberg to transition the players from more of the negative football

  16. It high time Pepe learnt when to dribble and pass. His last performance against City was awful. Always trying to dribble all the times and hence looses possession too many times. Now I have realized why he was getting benched.
    I like Martinelli, he is so direct and sharp.
    I do hope Arteta will develop all our wingers Pepe inclusive and be confident in holding ball.

  17. I think Freddie and Per has improved the team. Much less shots on Leno, better possession. It was an away game and Everton had all the motives so a draw is not a disaster, but there was a room for improvement. Players must move towards the guy who has the ball and run behind the defence without the ball. Otherwise, it will be difficult to create chances.

  18. One small step on the road to recovery in the form of a clean sheet.I thought Chambers, Torreria and our makeshift fullbacks did well.As fans we really cannot expect Nelson and ESR to hit the ground running on their first starts in the PL.For goodness sake give the youngsters a chance.

    1. Nelson has played plenty – including in the EPL.
      Unless Arteta magically improves him, he ain’t worth keeping as he’s lacking in almost everything – speed, passing, shooting, dribbling, mentality.
      I do think Arteta can improve his passing and mentality, but that would still not be enough even for a mid-table team.

      Saka and ESR are closer to being good enough, so let’s see what happens with them after Arteta has worked with them.

      I wish Pepe came on for Nelson at 70 min. or so today. Bigger chance of winning.

  19. Anyone who thinks the young boys are good enough already to play at this level are misguided. Martinelli is the exception but ESR RN and AMN are just not Premier League standard yet. I think Freddie missed a chance at 3 points by not bring Laca on earlier taking ESR off and deploying Pepe down the wing in RN place. Everton had nothing to scare Arsenal.

  20. From what I’m reading I don’t think most people on here actually know what supporting a team actually means. The fan base is a bit toxic and everyone is an arm chair manager. Sack everyone, sell all the players and close the academy down in fact let’s just wind the club up unless the owners stump up 400 million plus every season cos if they don’t they hate arsenal. So damn depressing listening to a lot of you, what’s wrong with you all get behind the team it’s not as if the club isn’t doing something to get us better. Ffs

    1. It’s not about shutting down the Academy and winding up the club Dan, I agree that the fan base has turned into toxic for last 5-6 years n it’s on the rise. But some criticism is constructive. Our Academy structure needs revising n revamping, this does not mean spending a lot of money there by owner. It’s about appointing right people n when you have foot print if successful club academies like Barca n Aijax then there is no shame in trying to do what they are doing. It as equally important as appointing the right manager if you have ppl like bold, Mert n Freddie incharge of your Academy then there is no surprise the kind of talent coming through. We all need to get behind the club and support the change which has started from Arteta but in same time should change our mentality as well. It’s not only the club mentality but the fans mentality that needs to be of champion. Which means you don’t boo your own players be mentally strong but do not compromise on failures.

    2. Well stated Dan, this board has
      become unreadable at times lately
      with the vitrol thrown around at
      everything Arsenal. I share the
      disappointment and disatisfaction
      with my beloved Gunner brethren
      worldwide but fail to understand
      what the constant bitching and
      complaining attempts to accomplish?
      AFC are at the futbol crossroads yet
      again, but I have nothing but
      confidence that MA is the right man
      to bring us through this crisis. Will
      it take the balance of the EPL season
      to right the ship, probably not but
      the Spaniard will make immediate
      strides in rebuilding the Arsenal
      DNA and culture that he lived and
      breathed for years as our a captain.

      Rome wasnt built in the day but Im
      actually excited to see what MA can
      bring to the table starting today.

  21. To be honest that was not an “arsenal” performance.Everton was so poor today we could have easily taken the game to them(thats what freddie did in the 2nd half)and scored at least a goal.
    But i think many problems have reduced from the UE era
    -The defence is improved
    -We play out from the back quite well
    -We press and track back(even Ozil did that)
    Thanks FL

    But theres a lot more to be improved
    MA has got a lot of work

    I do think we need ceballos and ozil both of them.Because we need creativity to link up play.
    Talking about the youngsters:-
    Martinelli was not effective offensively today so was nelson(but he was better than pepe defensively)
    ESR needs more game time cuz he was poor today(loan him and he will eventually become a great player.hes got great potential.)
    Willock was poor today
    Saka was the MOTM.Playing a new position at this age with such pressure and doing well.He deserves MOTM.
    Maitland Niles was not bad but not good either but he was ok today(very cautious,the whole team was)
    Talking about the senior players;
    Luiz was bad(i wonder how with such experience and achievements)
    Chambers was solid
    Xhaka was very good
    Torreira was good and he created 2 or 3 brilliant chances.
    Auba was non existent.He pressed,tracked back but was not given enough service.
    Leno is always good but i still think he is not good enough with his feet

    Talking about FL;
    He was brave today
    Picked a young team
    punished ozil atleast for a game for his attitude
    I wont agree with much of his tactics in this small period and also with some of his team selections
    But he deserves respect

    Now to the next chapter……COYG!!!

  22. As was suggested on TV, more going on behind the scenes with senior players and attitudes, a lot of inexperienced players today, who didn’t let us down but probably poor final ball and inexperienced decisions actually cost us the win. I expect at some point a big clear out, maybe January but thats a bit alof a hard thing to achieve then.

  23. Please do not crucify me. Given where the team has been in the last few months I was really impressed by the boys today. Everyone was hustling for the ball and blocking shots. Unlike previously months the players cut down on the number of shots against us and we were in the game back and forth.
    SAKA supper impressed me and we may have found our own equivalent of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. Not sure if Saka will be happy about it but I will like Arteta to consider playing him as a left full-back with an unrestricted license to attack like TAA of Liverpool. I do not think any of our current left full-backs are better than him. While Tierney and Kolasinic can overlap and get your come crosses, with Saka he will represent a real goal threat coming from behind. Get somebody to do the same from the right and we are looking 50% like liverpool. Play a young left legged defensive midfielder ahead of Saka so that the two young players and lots of energy they can easily cover for each other. At worst I see Saka as becoming a Bayarn Munich type David Alaba.
    Then stock the midfield with two defensive midfielders and a box to box midfielder to supply the offensive players. One of our front 3 can actually be a Firmino type striker on paper but more of a provider in practice. though a striker Firmino tends to drop back to allow Mo Saleh and Sadio Mane space to cut in from the right and left and get a better view of the goal with Firmina often arriving late. We can make Pepe and Aubameyang come cut in from the right and left while Martinelli arrives late like Firmino. The basic role of the midfielders will be to congest that midfield and stop teams from going through the way Liverpool uses its midfielders and provide supplies to the attackers. This type of set up will not see a lot of goals from the midfielders but will produce a solid midfield that will sort of give the offensive players more opportunities to attack and score goals.

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