Mikel Arteta clearly feels that his Arsenal side were unlucky to only get a 0-0 draw against Everton on Saturday.
Arsenal were certainly the dominant force in this match, as they monopolised possession and territory for long periods.
However, just as was the case against Fulham last time out in the Premier League, the Gunners lacked cutting edge in the final third.
Arsenal striker Kai Havertz has come under fire in the wake of this match, but the German forward was only part of Arsenal’s problem when it came to their failure to find the back of the net against the Toffees.
As Arteta himself said after the match, as quoted by the official Arsenal website: “Feel very disappointed not to win the game, because, obviously, if there’s a team that deserved to win, there’s only one, which is Arsenal.
“We gave nothing away, no shots conceded, dominated our play, not allowed them to run, no set pieces.
“We generated the chances, but the last 20 metres was missing to score goals, which is what you have to do with all the dominance… I cannot ask much more to the boys apart from putting the ball in the net.”
Tim Sherwood opposes Mikel Arteta claim
However, whilst Arteta is clearly convinced that his side almost had things entirely their way, former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood has now refuted that claim, and has insisted that Everton boss Sean Dyche was the one who in fact got the performance he wanted out of his players.
Summing up the difference between the two sides on Sky Sports News, Sherwood said: “Two words: Jordan Pickford. I mean, what a performance.
“They [Everton] came for a point and that’s exactly what they got. They had no intention of driving forward and trying to win the football match. I think Sean Dyche is a master at this if he knows that he’s up against it… They should’ve been beat by 2 or 3 to be honest, but Pickford made some magnificent saves.”
Everton clearly had a game plan, they stuck to it, and came away from the Emirates Stadium with the result that they wanted. Arteta cannot say the same thing.
Will Arsenal suffer more disappointments like their draw vs Everton?
The Merseyside outfit were able to expose the great flaw in this Arsenal side: the difficulty they have in breaking down deep-lying defences.
Arteta was criticised for taking Martin Odegaard off the pitch, but the Norwegian playmaker had not been able to inspire a goal prior to his exit.
This Arsenal squad lacks creativity and guile, which is part of what has made them so reliant upon their set-piece ability recently.
However, Premier League clubs now have the blueprint for defending Arsenal set-pieces, and with that the Gunners may now find that they have many more frustrating matches like this ahead of them this season.
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