Wow, i did not see this one coming. I thought there is a chance that we might lose the game today, but i didn't think we would be COMPLETELY outplayed. The bottom line is that today Everton just played us out of the park. They pressed us better; they were better moving forward and creating chances; they limited us to only one real goal scoring chance; from start to finish they were the better team.
We obviously have a few positions that we have to improve and i have spoken about those in almost every post for the past few weeks, but today i felt we also didn't really have a clear idea how to break Everton down. When we tried crossing from the wings, we had no players in the penalty area who could convert those crosses. When we tried to go trough the middle, we could not find the right pass to create space and we also did not have a forward who could create something for himself (cough, Giroud is pretty useless up front, cough). It's hard to beat a well organized team when you don't really commit to a certain strategy and you just pass the ball around hoping something good will come out of it.
A few other things are also clear: Monreal is a decent player, but he is way below Gibbs's level. He struggled all game long with the likes of Lukaku and Coleman. Giroud is pretty much in the same boat: decent player but that's about it. He can't create anything for himself. He can hold the ball well with his back to the goal and win a lot of headers, but he lacks speed and creativity. He is not someone who you are scared to cover, not to mention he is pretty quick to go down to ground when under pressure. And then cry about it.
Flamini had a great game against Man City and he is a born leader: very vocal and has a ton of heart. But i have always said that his pressing on the ball is awful. I don't think he even realizes that he NEVER closes people down. He stays a few feet away from them and then just barks orders to the players behind him. The problem with that as you can see from the two pictures below, is that the opposing players with the ball have all the time in the world to pick a pass and execute it. The pass Baines gave to Lukaku for the first Everton goal could have easily been prevented if Flamini had closed the ball down. Instead, he assumes his favorite defensive position: legs wide apart, giving the player with the ball plenty of space and the result is a cross from Baines, with no one being able to block it.
I thought Cazorla also had a very poor game, he kept missing passes and couldn't really get his game going. Podolski had some good shots in the first 10 minutes of the game and then he disappeared completely. Rosicky was probably one of the few players that was pushing the envelope and trying to create something by taking on players and attacking the goal. Ramsey had his first game in over 3 months and i was happy to see him on the pitch. Hopefully he can stay healthy because he was unstoppable in the first part of the season.
I still don't understand why Kallstrom does not get any game time. If you bought him because he is good, you should let him play and see if he is good enough to play for this team. Especially since Arteta has been struggling in the past few games. Or maybe i am the only one who thinks Arteta is not good enough in the middle of the pitch.
I still think that we should be able to win our next five games and finish in the top 4. Some of the teams we play are fighting to avoid relegation, so they won't roll over for us, but if we want to play Champions League football next year, we have to show we deserve it. Everton still have to play Southampton and Man City so i can see them dropping points, but we need to take care of our part and win the rest of our games.
Lastly, i really think it's time for Wenger to go. I love the guy and i hope he can win the FA Cup this year and retire as a winner. But i do think his time has come. We need a fresh face, someone who can still keep our identity and the way we play football, but who is better at organizing us defensively and is able to rotate players and adapt to the modern game. Someone like Michael Laudrup, Jurgen Klopp or even Roberto Martinez. I wouldn't mind if Wenger helps with finding who should succeed him. He could also stay at Arsenal as a technical director or help develop the young players at the club. Regardless, he is a legend at Arsenal, but the time has come for the club to move on!
