Arsenal Vs Everton: Mikel Arteta has a lot of work to

With newly appointed head coach Mikel Arteta watching on in the stands, Arsenal lacked quality, confidence and creativity in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Everton. If he didn’t understand the breadth of the job before he got it, he certainly does now.

Arsenal are a mess. They have been for some time. Attracting a head coach to lead a lacking squad that is not set to receive the significant investment it needs is not the easiest task in the world. Nevertheless, the Gunners were able to pick the manager they wanted all along, former captain and Manchester City assistant, Mikel Arteta.

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Officially unveiled on Friday, Arteta has been unable to forcefully imprint himself on the team as of yet. Interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg was in charge of training this week, selected the team for Saturday’s match against Everton, and was the man on the touchline, making the in-game adjustments and substitutions.

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Arteta was in attendance for the drab and dreary 0-0 draw. He watched on, likely in disgust at his players and shock at the job that is before him. While there were positives to draw from the second-half performance and some tactical intricacies that should be praised, especially in midfield and defence, overall, the match lacked quality, players on both sides making mistake after mistake after mistake. This is what Arteta must work with.

After watching his Manchester City side wipe the floor with the Gunners the week prior, I am sure he was not totally shocked at what he was seeing. Arteta would have known the challenge that was before him. And in fact, per his introductory press conference, he is ready to embrace that challenge and believes in his ability to meet it head-on. But if there were any doubts about just how much work he had to do, this match would have put them to bed.

With a message sent to several key players from Ljungberg as he selected a youthful, energetic, industrious team, the painstakingly obvious takeaway was that Arsenal simply do not have very good players. Yes, many of those that started on Saturday with young prospects with bright futures, but while talented, they are not yet ready to be full-time starters.

Emile Smith Rowe struggled, bar a 15-minute in the second half, Reiss Nelson could not keep the ball and has ostensibly lost that driving pace and conviction of younger years, while Gabriel Martinelli was inconsistent and failed to better the excellent Djibril Sidibe in one-on-ones. The more experienced players were not that much better. David Luiz looked last in the opening 20 minutes, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was nonexistent, dreaming more of an exit that concentrating on his play, while Nicolas Pepe did not even see the pitch.

First and foremost, Arteta must inject some confidence into these players. Safe passes and unconvincing decisions littered the individual and collective performances as players shirked away from risk and responsibility. He then must go about rebuilding the squad, from the holes at centre-back to bolstering the midfield; from solving the striker calamity to finding another winger. And finally, he must implement his style, his approach, instil his identity, something that Unai Emery was never able to do.

Next. Arsenal Vs Everton: 5 things we learned. dark

Arsenal are a mess. They will take some serious fixing, and hiring Arteta is only a part of that process. He has a lot of work to do, and the performance on Saturday only served to prove as much.

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