Arsenal: 4 massive selection decisions vs Everton

Mikel Arteta has the uncanny knack of making regular decisions to frustrate the Arsenal supporters. For a manager with still so much left to prove in his first job, it’s unavoidable.

Everyone is still hugely disgruntled with how events at Old Trafford played out. It was the fifth Premier League defeat of the season but by far the toughest to swallow.

Manchester United are a poor side. It’s almost unfathomable considering how stuffed full of outstanding talent they are. They are a group of individuals reliant on each other’s unique qualities to see them through, which is what happened on Thursday.

In time they will improve under the interim guidance of Ralf Rangnick. He will get his teeth stuck into the job and make a team out of them. The side that Arsenal faced was not one of his control though, and instead under the command of someone even less experienced than Arteta.

Everton vs Arsenal: 4 massive selection decisions for Mikel Arteta to make for Monday’s Premier League clash at Goodison Park

Decisions in his selections suggested negativity from the Arsenal boss. Fielding Mohamed Elneny from the start stunk of a reserved mentality, as just a few days prior Sambi Lokonga had looked superb against Newcastle.

The opportunity was there for the taking. It was squandered.

With Everton at Goodison Park next up on the fixture list Arteta not only has to rectify previous mistakes, he also has to find solutions to glaring issues within his squad in regards to individuals.

All of that combined with the need to refresh his team ahead of the hectic festive period means there is a lot to consider ahead of Monday. Here are four big calls for him to make.

1. Keep Martin Odegaard in the Team

From hero to villain in the blink of an eye.

Martin Odegaard came under heavy criticism after the Old Trafford debacle, plenty of it coming well before his impressively stupid lunge on Fred to give away the penalty that won the game for United.

He was picked out as someone who held onto the ball for too long and disrupted the tempo of Arsenal’s play. Seeking to use the economy of touches in his favour, he would bide his time for second and third man runs to the point where it became an hindrance to the team. As he grew into the game he found the right spaces, and his goal was a really well taken cushioned strike into the corner.

Of course, the penalty incident changed that and suddenly all the worrying aspects of his performance overshadowed the positives. But what about the numbers? He led Arsenal in xA, key passes and shot-creating actions, as well as finding the back of the net. It was an above average display in a below average performance.

Odegaard is one of those players that often goes unnoticed until he makes a mistake. That’s part of his allure, but from an optics point of view it’s to his detriment.

It depends what Arteta saw on the night as, undoubtedly, he’ll be fuming with the tackle. That’s not what he wants and not what he rewards, so there is a decision to be made on his inclusion over Lacazette.

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2. Time to Drop Thomas Partey?

Thomas Partey was awful in that first half. Absolutely dreadful.

When there are elements to his game that are so enjoyable like how nimble he can be with the ball in the air to nip possession off a player and charge with the ball, seeing him then give away a five yard pass kills all of that.

His head was not in the right place and despite having a ‘fine’ performance from a statistical standpoint, there is no brushing over how disappointing he was on the night.

Waiting in the wings is Ainsley Maitland-Niles who will be seeing that level of performance and licking his lips and the prospect of getting the nod. Arteta has to start demanding more from his senior players and on the basis of meritocracy there has to come a point where Partey starts realising his place in the side is not a certainty.

On the topic of whether he will be dropped or not, you get the feeling that his second half performance will spare him the chop.

Vastly improved after the break (albeit nearly impossible to be much worse) there was far less tentativeness in his game and he crisped up his passing. Still lazy in tracking Ronaldo for the second goal and nonetheless way off where he needs to be, he could just have prevented his removal from the side.

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3. Time for Kieran Tierney’s Return in the Side?

At this moment in time, the senior players at Arsenal are dragging the rest of the side down. Meant to be guiding the youth along, instead they’re being propped up by players many years their junior.

Nuno Tavares was not one of the worst performers at Old Trafford. He was one of a few trying to initiate attacks in the team when the whole unit sat back and invited pressure, even if his deliveries when into the final third were lacking and he struggled to penetrate United’s defence.

However, with other senior members of the squad faltering, the time feels right to return Kieran Tierney to the starting lineup to inject some experience into the team. Even for the on-field guidance and leadership, there needs to be someone marshalling the players.

Arteta has long trusted Tierney to be his voice on the pitch. When Xhaka isn’t around he takes over those reins, and seeing the way the team lose their control and confidence in positive game states might call for someone of the Scot’s ilk to just generally get stuck into his teammates.

With the games coming thick and fast players will have to get minutes in them to maintain freshness throughout, and after an physically demanding game at Old Trafford there has to be rotation anyway.

It’s a call that you’d expect Arteta to make, even if Nuno has still yet to do anything especially wrong.

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4. Time to Take Aubameyang Out of the Team?

There is a very large and vocal contingent of the supporters that are screaming ‘yes’ in unison.

Aubameyang has been nothing short of magnificent for this football club since he’s arrived, dragging the team through the mire with his goals and producing further heroics in trophy-winning moments.

But he looks lost. He looks like a shadow of his former self. It can’t carry on that Arsenal are plugging away through matches with ten men. That’s what he’s offering at the moment: nothing.

As immune to injury as he is – which is remarkable for someone who works so hard off the ball and is 32 years old – rotation will have to come into play and Everton just a few days after Old Trafford hands Arteta the perfect guise to take him out of the team without causing a media frenzy.

The man lying in wait is Gabriel Martinelli.

Do we realistically see Arteta leaving Aubameyang out of the team? No, we do not. The most likely scenario is Emile Smith Rowe being left out for fitness purposes and Martinelli coming in on the left flank, although nothing can be ruled out.

Whatever happens, there won’t be many upset fans to see Auba miss this Premier League game out.