Arsenal: 4 glaring mistakes Mikel Arteta made vs Everton

Arsenal have contrived to lose back-to-back matches against two teams who’d collectively won one Premier League match in their previous 16. From start to finish it was dreadful and Mikel Arteta has a lot to answer for.

Ahead of facing a beleaguered Manchester United at Old Trafford Arsenal have the opportunity to go eight points clear of their European chasing rivals. Losing 2-1 to Everton on Monday sees them sit one point behind them with a five worse goal difference.

It was a turgid display, and a woeful match overall.

Having possession for possession’s sake, the visitors created nothing of note in the first half barring one effort from Thomas Partey who had forgotten Arsenal weren’t playing at Anfield this week.

Everton 2-1 Arsenal: 4 glaring mistakes Mikel Arteta made as Gunners manager comes under severe pressure to be sacked

After VAR had saved their skin with Richarlison’s offside goal, the only meaningful attacking moment of the half saw Martin Odegaard coolly slot past Jordan Pickford from Kieran Tierney’s stoppage time cross.

Winning the game undeservedly, it couldn’t possibly get much worse from the Gunners after the break. Perhaps not worse, but equally dreadful.

Richarlison got his goal at the third time of asking after another VAR scare, Odegaard reaffirmed that he has no right foot, Eddie Nketiah was closer to writing his name on the post than on a contract, and Demarai Gray leathered in a stunning winner in the 92nd minute.

On the surface there were huge chances for Arsenal to win the match and no saves of note for Aaron Ramsdale to make. That would be viewing the game through tinted glasses made of San Sebastian roses.

Arteta was largely at fault. Again.

1. The Role Given to Alexandre Lacazette

Arteta was handed the ideal smokescreen to take Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of the team for this one due to the quick turnover in matches, with rotation cited as the reason for him starting on the bench.

Yearning for someone like Lacazette to come into the fold, as soon as he does everyone is then yearning for him to be back on the bench. The Frenchman was dreadful at Goodison Park, with his tactically assigned role one of self-inflicted inefficacy.

Lining up as the No. 9, Lacazette popped up close to everywhere other than it. Along with Odegaard they would drift into wandering double No. 10 positions with the Frenchman out on the left, a tactical ploy that is usually adopted in a 4-2-2-2 shape. In those instances there has to be two strikers in front to work an effective counter-press, something that Ralf Rangnick implemented on his first game in charge of United against Crystal Palace.

Was this another muscle flexing moment from the manager? ‘I can do this too, it’s not only him who is good at this tactics thing’.

Lacazette already has a penchant for dropping deep, and the one time it did work is when Arsenal scored their goal with him involved in the build-up play and Martinelli stretching the back four to open the space for Odegaard. But Arteta is placing square pegs in round holes by stomping on them long enough that the frame itself brakes.

The rest of the game was Lacazette giving Tomiyasu a cuddle at right-back and being static on the rare forays into an attacking central zone. It was another experiment from the manager on a night that called for a return to basics.

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