Everton 0-0 Arsenal: 3 reasons why the Gunners failed to win | Premier League 2019-20
Arsenal faced Everton in today’s early Premier League game at Goodison Park, with interim boss Freddie Ljungberg in charge for the final time – Mikel Arteta will take over from next week – and to be quite frank, the game was one of the worst of the last decade, let alone this season.
The two sides drew 0-0, and with both Arteta and Everton’s new boss Carlo Ancelotti watching from the stands, the match proved to be incredibly difficult to digest.
Neither team seemed to have any idea of how to break the other down, and in the end, neither new manager can be looking forward to their new job.
Here are 3 reasons why Arsenal drew with Everton.
#1 Arsenal’s system didn’t work fluently
Freddie Ljungberg set Arsenal up today in a 4-2-3-1 system, with Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira screening the defence and young guns Reiss Nelson, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe attempting to provide lone striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with chances.
Unfortunately, this system completely backfired as the Gunners created practically no chances; Aubameyang had just 3 shots, 2 of which were saved by Jordan Pickford, and they were the only shots on target Arsenal had in the entire game. The side also made just 5 key passes – and of the attacking trio, only Nelson was responsible for one of them.
Arsenal’s youngsters clearly have a lot of talent – with Bukayo Saka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock also appearing today, this was one of the youngest Gunners sides fielded in some time – but they’ve also got a lot to learn and Arteta would perhaps be advised to at least attempt to make the most of his more experienced players like Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe – who were both on the bench today.