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
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Well, that’s a question for you to answer yourself. Because It’s not news that Partey is not fit
Haven’t watched us play this season so haven’t been able to comment on individual performances. My opinions are slanted from what I saw last season, the failure of the ” inverteds”, (why couldn’t so many fans see that it was ugly to watch and wasn’t going to pay off in the long run?), Harvetz’ limitations and the failure to sign anyone better than Merlo and Stirling. So where to now? Chelsea are on the up but fortunately Villa and Spurs are also inconsistent meaning that we should stumble into third or fourth spot along with City. As for next season though there will have to be a mass sell off of aging or underperforming players plus a lot of generosity from the owners with the cheque book. At the same time, would you trust Arteta to spend your money wisely?
Rice asked to come off as he had a problem!
The question really only applies to Odegaard IMO. Without Odegaard we have no creativity, he wasn’t playing well but he was the most likely source of skill and smarts that would unlock Everton. I would have preferred Nwaneri come on for Merino, rather than Odegaard going off, and go all out for a goal. We are very average up front without a fit and in form Odegaard.
Arteta showed his inexpensive; he panicked and disrupted the rhythm of the team with those changes.
I was screaming when I saw Odegaard’s number was up.
Even more intriguing it became when the manager later explained that the captain was substituted for tactical rather than health reasons
Odegaard was terrible in the second half, and I was glad he was replaced by Nwaneri. Unfortunately Nwaneri failed to shine.
A “terrible” Odegaard is still better than Nwaneri for now. There is still a while to go before Nwaneri will bench Odegaard
Going on his previous performances this season, Nwaneri was the perfect sub for a below par Odegaard.
The fact you were screaming suggests a lack of rationality. If Odegaard was struggling surely the manager has to consider a change.
inexperience I meant
Arsenal still lacks that decisive edge to win the league ….creativity is increasingly becoming an issue of late. What about the strike force…you trust Hvts to take us to the pinnacle of the league?
With arteta we will always remain contender to win epl but never win one.
We don’t seem like wanting to snatch a present while other contestant are sleepy
The problem was not Odegaard. If Partey were there the story would be different. We get better results with Partey, Odegaard and Rice. Why did the manager bench him for the experimental Merino????
Arteta wanting to justify why they spent all that money on Merino and it’s not working just like the Havertz experiment that keeps stagnating. everyone is seeing all this except the manager.
I believe Nwaneri can do way better as a 9 than Havertz because he has done very well as a 9 before. He is goal-focused all the time and knows how to position himself to receive the ball unlike Jesus who is always outside the box
He’d never do it because Arteta is afraid of taking any attacking risks, but the obvious play was put both Ethan and Odegaard on. Taking Odegaard off when we needed a goal was absurd. Even Martin at his worst just needs one moment to change the game for us. Even a toddler would know not to take either him or Saka off in this situation. Big question marks surrounding Mikel this season and his progression as a manager.
How many years have we been crying out for a central striker, a chief gunman? Seems Arteta is hell-bent on trying out his experiment (of a false number 9) while clubs like Chelsea are becoming more and more serious title contenders! For how long should we be laughing stock of the English game? If his so-called ” experiment” fails this season, l believe he should go!
“Laughing stock” you are very strange Shobha
The writer even went as far as blaming the coach for taking off a player who signalled he was struggling.
Damn!
I feel for Arteta.
I guess they envy his hair.
Ødegaard has been almost horrible for some time . . .
But let us blame others as mentioning him in bad light might be a sin punishable with hell.
I think Ødegaard is due a loan.
Let me get out of here before they come with their apostasy stones.
🤫
Pls, nobody should mention me, I’m hiding.
Won’t answer.
🤭
You should hide for making a fool out of yourself by that statement. You can criticise Odegaard but to claim that he should be loaned out is deadbrain in my opinion.
Partey has to be managed carefully. Odegaard wasn’t at his best. Rice had an injury.
In my opinion arsenal needs to change their signing strategy. Going for quality players who can force something out of no where when they meet teams which sit at the back. Our signing has been poor lackof identifying right talents.
Nimbo,
You cannot solve a problem, using the same mentality that created it. The signing strategy, with Arteta ”making his preferences” get signed, shall not change. In my view, Arsenal are in this situation because of the manager. I don’t see that changing with him at the helm.
The major failure in this match originated from benching Thomas Partey one of the best holding midfielders in English Premier League who helps the whole team to attack and be more aggressive and sometimes score goals outside the box when it’s difficult to penetrate our opponent’s defense. Without Partey in the Arsenal’s midfield, even G Martineli becomes useless