Everton - on the bus. The signs of compromise

Arsenal exited with a predictable draw from Goodison Park in what frankly was a preparation game before the biggest game of 2025 so far.

A macho winner or a strategic planner?

The burning question before kickoff was: will Arteta follow his macho philosophy of winning in every game at all costs or will he finally accept that the title is gone and treat this clash as a preparation for Real Madrid?

Yours truly was backing the latter approach and I guess we saw something of a compromise from Arteta. We saw the return of the front three from the dark days of February (post-Havertz hamstring heartbreak), along with Jorginho and White. While the creative wizards were chilling on the bench, Rice, Merino, and MLS were given their third start in a week.

Merino, bless him, didn't look knackered despite his hectic schedule. He was energetic, he was creative. Some of the passes were sloppy, but still the impression from his game was much better than from the rainy autumn days earlier in the season. It still blows my mind that after the recent few weeks Merino is a much better all-around contributor to our creativity than multiple Premier League winner Raheem. By the way, my observation about Merino got confirmed with official data.

On the other hand, Rice and MLS looked a bit leggy. This is something I can’t wrap my head around. After Myles had a busy March schedule in his first senior season, Arteta left him on the field for 96 minutes and didn’t sub him in halftime today. It was quite visible that Myles was tired and as a result, we received a penalty in the beginning of the first half.

Alright, the penalty was very soft and Harrison was dragging the duel into the box, but I am pretty sure, refreshed, Myles wouldn’t let Harrison even sniff that ball (it’s not some prison slang!). Myles is impressive, but he’s still 18 years old. Why did Arteta keep him for so long? Is he not planning to start him on Tuesday? Is he thinking of Timber at left-back and White at right-back? At this point I would rather trust Timber and MLS deal with the explosive Madrid pace.

I also can't understand Arteta's reluctance to use Zinchenko. He was undeservedly criticized for a couple of significant errors last season, but he’s still a very decent technical player. More importantly, he was decent in all our recent appearances. He’s still good with the ball at his feet, can find teammates with a smart pass and can defend against an average PL winger. Why he was left warming the bench for the entire match is a mystery to me. 

I also can’t explain why Jorginho was subbed off in the second half and not Rice? The only hope I have is that Rice was told to “keep it light”. But let's face it, when you're chasing a win, there's no such thing as 'taking it easy'. The game's intensity will always suck you in!

Kiwior got another 90 minutes under his belt, and his performance was decent, but not exactly mind-blowing. He lost a few duels, his positioning was a bit iffy at times, and he misplaced a few passes. I even heard some familiar voice yell "Ja-a-a-akub" from the bench when he ventured deep into Everton's half with the ball. It was louder than the Goodison crowd, so Jakub was definitely in the wrong there! 😀

Another miracle happened - Sterling got his first assist of the season for a brilliant Trossard strike.

This video has aged well. Unfortunately was not given the chance to build up on his incredible form. The positive from the goal - Trossard might have another surprise in him left exclusively for Madrid.

All in all, 1-1 in an away game is a good result. I left the illusions of “title chase” a long time ago. The more important thing was for us to not lose miserably. And we didn’t, the team actually looked better than in the dark February days. 

Finally, we can discuss Real Madrid! But only in the next post… Stay tuned and give a like or post a comment!