Arsenal Vs Everton: The most damning criticism

Arsenal fell to Everton in disastrous fashion on Sunday afternoon. The performance exhibited the most damning criticism of a professional team: a lack of desire.

Performances are not always as you would want them to be. It is a natural consequence of being human. We are not perfect. We do not always act and perform perfectly or even as intended. When teams play poorly, it can be forgiven; when mistakes are made, a degree of mercy is acceptable.

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But the most damning criticism of any individual or team, professional or not, is a lack of effort, an absence of commitment and application, a soft mentality, not trying your hardest. And that is what Arsenal looked like on Sunday.

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With third place within reach with a victory, the Gunners travelled to Goodison Park expecting a difficult game against an improving Everton team but understanding the rewards of a win. Sadly, that recognition never led to anything more than passive inaction. The disastrous nature of the performance was betrayed by the tightness of the eventual 1-0 scoreline. This was an embarrassment, and it had nothing to do with quality and everything to do with character.

Some have questioned Unai Emery’s approach. Certainly, the light-numbered central midfield did not aid Arsenal’s endeavours. The decision to drop Alex Iwobi for Henrikh Mkhitaryan was a curious one. Would Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang not be more effective if played from the start, rather than turning to him at half-time when the game was already in need of being chased?

But really, all of the talk regarding systems, shapes, tactics and approaches is belying the real issue: Arsenal did not play with passion, desire, confidence, determination, a will to win, the resolve and fortitude that is needed when you go on the road in the Premier League.

This is really the greatest damnation that anybody can hand a team. Apathy, inaction, laziness are all things that should never be present in any performance. No matter how poorly you may be playing, surely, you can always try, right? Bad moments will happen, inevitably. Mistakes will be committed. But trying is the very essence of sport. And Arsenal looked like they weren’t trying on Sunday.

Now, I understand that that statement can never be proven. Only the players can tell you whether they were fully committed or not. But the number of second balls, the number of aerial duels, the number of tackles that Everton relentlessly won suggests to me that they ‘wanted it more’ than their visitors, whatever that phrase may actually mean.

And this is the biggest criticism that I can hand Emery’s players. They didn’t play with heart and character, and that, more than any mistake or poor performance, is extremely troubling indeed.