Everton vs Arsenal 1-1

Unlike last game against Aston Villa, i thought today we didn't play well at all and i can't be satisfied with our performance, even though we got a point at Goodison Park - which is a tough place to play at. I thought our passing was very, very poor today. I can't remember the last time we were so sloppy with the ball, usually even when we don't create chances, we are calm when we pass the ball around. Last game against Villa, we were being pressed hard for long periods of the game, but we rarely lost control of our passing. Not the case today. We looked nervous every time we got pressed, and we weren't able to consistently keep the ball. Even though we had some decent spells of possession, the amount of missed passes was huge. Everton looked sharper and hungrier throughout the game. They did a very good job of passing the ball quick while opening up spaces for themselves. If anyone should be more disappointed with a draw today it should be them. 

Everton's goal and half of their other clear chances were created after we lost possession of the ball in the dumbest ways possible. If i was coaching the team, Ramsey would have been subbed off at half time! He gave away the ball more than 4 times at very bad positions on the pitch, one of which led to Everton's equalizer. He fucked up in the 7th or 8th minute losing the ball in our own half; then as if he didn't learn his lesson, in the 14th min he was dribbling in front of our own penalty area instead of clearing the ball and it almost cost us again. 27th minute he gave another ball away and this time we got punished, because Sagna also miss-controlled the ball and eventually Fellaini scored. To top it off for the first half, Aaron lost another ball in the 42nd minute and the only thing that prevented Baines from going one on one vs Szczesny was Jelavic who was in an offside position and touched the ball! I can understand someone making a mistake once. Or twice. But after the second one, if you keep repeating your mistakes you are either very stupid or very sloppy and careless. You are playing in a top Premier League team and you should be accountable for what you do on the pitch! If there are no consequences after mistakes like the ones he did today, what will motivate him to not repeat them again? He did play a bit better in the second half, but he should have been off the pitch after his performance in the first. 

The defense today had a very bad outing. People were often out of position with the brightest example being in the 51st min when Mertesacker is chasing Baines on the left, while Gibbs is desperately clearing the cross in the middle of our penalty area? Sagna played one of his worst games in a long time. He made a lot of mistakes and didn't look good at all. I am used to his crossing being horrendous, but other than that he is one of our most consistent defenders. Not today. Gibbs was also shaky but he did have some important tackles and a heads up play at the end of the game, to not score an own goal, after a great cross from Everton. Mertesacker did great dealing with Fellaini in the air. On the ground he wasn't as convincing, but from our 4 defenders, him and Vermaelen were the best two. Thomas played one of his best games recently, he was solid at the back and had some good runs up front as well. The only bright spot defensively was our defending of set pieces for a 2nd week in a row! Considering the amount of crosses Everton use, we dealt with most of them very well.

The only bright spots in the midfield today were Wilshere and Walcott. Wilshere was very active; he was always looking to find space and advance the ball; i just wish he shoots on goal more often. Theo had a good game too; scored a nice goal and even though he had spells where he wasn't too involved, he was always a threat when we went forward. He also gave a great cross to Giroud, who missed the goal by a bit. Arteta was decent today. I thought he put in a lot of hard work defensively and he didn't make a lot of mistakes, except for the tackle on Pienaar which could have easily been a penalty. Cazorla was super disappointing with his performance. For most of the game, the guy was invisible. On top of that he was constantly whining and bitching at the refs. This is not the first time i see him do that. Maybe he needs a game off or something, because he played shit today.

Giroud was also invisible. The guy who was super active against Aston Villa, was nowhere to be seen today. He was taking too long when he had the ball; missed the only good chance he had in 67th minute after Walcott put the ball on his head. He had a good period of 4,5 games in a row so i can cut him some slack. Arsene can say all he wants that he knows what he is doing, but why is he putting Gervinho in the game, in the 80th minute? Who can have an impact on a game for 10 mins? Very few players. If he really wanted to win the game, he should given his substitutions at least 20 to 30 mins playing time. Rosciky was on the bench, so was Oxlade-Chamberlain. Both of these guys can have a solid impact on a game. Curious to see how we will do this Saturday against a Swansea side which just beat West Brom. We need to improve badly!