Arsenal Resilient Against Everton

I'll be honest, I didn't know how to respond to this match until now.

At halftime I was on the war path. I was furious.

When it was over, I was relieved, but I hadn't got over the first half yet. I was still angry.

24 hours after it ended, I watched it again. And then I watched one more time. My opinion changed drastically.

Without a doubt, Arsenal put together their best performance of this young season at Goodison Park. More unlucky than poor in the first half, the Gunners made several astute tactical adjustments at half-time to get a well-deserved point.

Credit where it's due. Last spring Roberto Martinez's tactics befuddled Arsene Wenger. Not this time. Wenger's subtle tweaks did just enough to break down a disciplined Everton defense twice in the final 10 minutes.

I think it's best to divide the review in halves to better make my point.

1st Half

The intial setup was curious. Mesut Ozil lined up on the left wing and Per Mertesacker was on the left-hand side of the two center halves. Neither looked comfortable early on in the 4-1-4-1 formation.

Last year Ozil was given a free role behind the striker in a 4-4-1-1, but based on the first three matches, Wenger has changed his tactics considerably this year. Both central midfielders have been given license to push forward all match--when we have the ball and when we don't. Wilshere and Ramsey often pushed forward to pressure the opposing center halves in possession, and the outside players (Ozil and the Ox in this match) were given responsibility to track back and man-mark the opposing fullbacks.

Everton lined up in the same exact 4-3-3 formation that had worked so well the last time. Steven Naismith was the False 9 in front of a 3 man midfield of McCarthy, Barry, and Osman, and he had a large amount of defensive responsibility to get back and outnumber Arsenal's midfielders in the middle of the pitch. Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas played as wide forwards. Both set up on the half-line when Arsenal had the ball to give Everton early options for the counter-attack, and neither was asked to track back and mark the Arsenal fullback when Arsenal had possession.

One of the reasons Everton's 4-3-3 worked so well against Arsenal last spring was the numerical advantage it gave Everton in the center. When Naismith tracked back, Everton often outnumbered Arsenal 4 to 2, and they stopped Arsenal from enjoying the methodical possession game we want to play. Arsenal's 4-1-4-1 formation helped somewhat, if only because it added a 3rd central midfielder to the numbers. But the Arsenal central midfielders still struggled.

McCarthy, Barry, Osman, and Naismith harassed Wilshere and Ramsey every time they took possession, and both struggled initially. Ramsey and Wilshere couldn't spring attacks due to a lack of familiarity with the central striker, Alexis Sanchez.

I will say this: Sanchez looked a lot better than I had remembered when I rewatched the match. His runs were very dangerous as he often got in behind Distin. But the Arsenal midfielders never tried to connect with a long ball over the top. Perhaps this was because we haven't had a center forward who made those types of runs in a very long time, but I think it was more likely due to the pressure Everton's midfield put on Arsenal's playmakers.

When Sanchez did check back to his midfield, he received the ball in Giroud-esque positions in front of the Everton defense. But it isn't his first instinct to quickly play the ball back to a midfielder in the Giroud mold. Sanchez wanted to keep the ball on his feet and dribble, and he often did so right into 2 or 3 Everton defenders.

In all: 1) Sanchez is not a natural center forward. It will take a while for him to learn how much time and space he has in that role. And 2) Arsenal's midfielders had no idea how to find Sanchez in positions that would play to his strengths.

By no means was Saturday proof that Sanchez does not have what it takes to play the position in England. As he adjusts to the role, and as the Arsenal midfielders adjust to him, his play will improve considerably. Sanchez simply has too much raw talent to fail.

As the match went on, Ox and Ozil frequently drifted into midfield to ease the pressure on Arsenal's midfielders. This is often how Arsenal wants to play, but it was foolish against Everton. We were playing right into their hands. With Lukaku and Mirallas failing to track back, Arsenal's numerical advantage was on the wings. Everton never had more than two players on the wing at any point when the Gunners had possession. Arsenal could have set up triangles on the wing to passed around the two Everton defenders to create chances, but far too many of Arsenal's first half attacks failed as they tried to force themselves through the middle.

Everton didn't have much possession, but when they did, they often found a lot of time and space in central midfield. Wilshere and Ramsey didn't have enough defensive discipline early in the match. They were pushing too far forward and were not in position to pressure Everton's midfielders when the Toffees had the ball.

3 times Barry was given free reign to pick out a pass in a 10 minute stretch. The first led to the Coleman goal. The second led to a Naismith flick-on, which found Mirallas and nearly led to a second. The third played in Coleman on the right wing and Monreal did really well to win the ball. Arsenal were lucky to only be punished once.

Yes, Ozil lost his mark on the first goal. But more should have been done to prevent that pass from coming in in the first place. Wilshere and Ramsey weren't putting in the same defensive effort as their opponents, and Arsenal were getting punished as a result. That lack of pressure was the true root of Arsenal's problems in the first half, not Ozil's inability to track back.

The second goal was bad refereeing. Plain and simple. The referees missed both the foul on Mertesacker in the build-up and wrongly ruled Naismith onside.

Lukaku clearly made contact with Mertesacker before the ball got to him, therefore playing the man before the ball. It was not incidental contact. Mertesacker was in position to win it and was shoved off his position. That is a clear foul. No doubt about it. Same as the offside decision.

But Arsenal were not blameless either. Chambers showed his inexperience, rashly getting beaten on the left touchline rather than sitting deeper and controlling the situation. It was a clear error by the youngster, but he showed remarkable resiliency as the match went on. The boy learns from his mistakes quickly.

2nd Half

Giroud came on for Sanchez and Arsenal immediately looked much more comfortable in attack. Still in the 4-1-4-1, Arsenal was clearly much more comfortable playing with Giroud as the focal point than they had been with Sanchez. And Giroud, after a dismal performance at Besiktas on Tuesday, was much more energetic and effective.

Right away, Chambers played an excellent 25 yard ball to Wilshere which bypassed the Everton midfield and put the home side under pressure. Wilshere switched to Monreal on the left wing, and Monreal played another cross field ball back to Ox. The Ox had found space in between Baines and Osman, and he played a superb pass to Giroud. Giroud had peeled off to the far post really well and was unlucky to score with his first touch. But it was undeniably Arsenal's best attack of the game at that point.

As time went on, the subtle adjustments showed. First, Wilshere was tasked with putting the pressure on Barry in midfield. He did so with ferocity. Wilshere was maybe lucky to stay on the pitch after a hard, late tackle on Barry early in the 2nd half, but the main problem with Arsenal's defending had clearly been addressed at half time. Barry was no longer getting time and space.

Mertesacker had been booked in the first half, but his positioning and reading of the game was absolutely impeccable in the second half. He made lots of great tackles and interceptions all half.

And his partner grew into the game greatly. Mertesacker was caught out by Lukaku like he had been on the second goal, but this time Chambers kept his position and made Lukaku slow down and think. The result was another Mertesacker interception, as Chambers and Flamini had given their teammate enough time to recover.

As the match wore on, Arsenal had a clear target in possession: to exploit the numbers on the wings by getting 3 players wide to take on Everton's 2. It was a slower build-up, but Arsenal were methodically poking and prodding Everton's tactical weakness on the wing.

In the 70th minute Cazorla and Campbell came on for Wilshere and Ox. I expected the formation would change to the 4-4-1-1 we used last season. It didn't. Cazorla took up Wilshere's defensive role, even tracking back to the endline a few times, and Ramsey was still given free reign to roam forward.

Ramsey continued to struggle. Attack after attack ended with an overly ambitious Ramsey pass or an overly ambitious Ramsey shot. I love Ramsey's confidence--he can do incredible things on the pitch, no doubt about it--but Aaron should remember that his great run of form last season sprung from the simplification of his game. When he's doing the little things right, Arsenal is a much better team.

Like on Arsenal's first goal. Arsenal again took a numerical advantage on the left wing, slowly passing in triangles around Coleman and McCarthy, but we weren't able to find the final pass to set up a goal. Mesut Ozil was clearly frustrated at the lack of targets after his cross went out for a throw in. Then we scored.

Cazorla showed nifty footwork to put in a great left-footed cross to Ramsey for the tap-in, but in my opinion, Ozil created that goal.

Hear me out now. When Cazorla took the ball, Ozil took a fantastic, intelligent position just tucked in behind Coleman and McCarthy. The two Everton defenders were confused and indecisive, neither wanted to pressure Cazorla on the ball and risk opening up a pass to the German. And Cazorla made them pay with a fantastic low cross between the two Everton center-halves and the goalkeeper, right into the run of Ramsey who had timed his run so well.

Ramsey was Arsenal's worst player Saturday. He was poor in possession and failed to pressure his opposing midfielders when we didn't have the ball. And despite that, Ramsey scored the vital first goal to start the comeback. This is how you can tell Ramsey is becoming a world class player. Even when not at his sharpest, Ramsey makes an impact. That's what the best players do.

With Everton now feeling the pressure, Arsenal looked to even the score. I was impressed by two crucial plays by Joel Campbell, one that might have saved a goal and another that sparked the equalizer.

First, a bad Cazorla pass was intercepted as Debuchy pushed forward. Everton took the ball and had numbers down our right wing, but Campbell slid in well and won possession back.

Then, a pass was played in to Campbell at midfield. The Costa Rican's first touch was a bit heavy and Everton saw an opportunity to pounce. Both Osman and Naismith rushed in and challenged Campbell, but our young forward showed good strength and quickness to play a composed pass back to Chambers.

Like he did to start the second half, Chambers played a fantastic 25 yard ball that bypassed the Everton midfield and sparked the Arsenal attack. This time it was to Ramsey, but Ramsey's attempted cross to Giroud was well over-hit.

Monreal never gave up on it. He chased down the loose ball and quickly crossed it back in for Giroud. The delivery was perfect, as was Giroud's header.

From 2-nil down to 2-2 in ten minutes. It was an excellent 2nd half performance. And a real confidence boost heading into the crucial match against Besiktas on Wednesday.

Everton Takeaway: The Toffees will be unhappy not to close out a victory for the second straight week after drawing at Leicester 2-2 last weekend. But they can be proud of how they played in the first half. Dangerous on the counter and tough to break down, Everton look to have enough to trouble lots of teams. But they failed to put the nail in Arsenal's coffin to get a third goal, and Arsenal slowly figured them out.

Arsenal Takeaway: If you ignore the 15 minute stretch after Everton scored their first goal, Arsenal bossed this entire game. Everton's second goal never should have stood. The Gunners corrected their defensive mistakes and adjusted their attack to account for their opponent's weaknesses at halftime, they brought on a more familiar center forward who made everyone more comfortable, and were perhaps a bit unlucky just to score twice. It was a first rate performance in a difficult stadium early in the season, and a good result to match.

Man of the Match: Nacho Monreal. After an awful performance the last time Monreal played at Goodison, I'll admit I expected the worst when I saw Nacho lining up against Lukaku yet again. The Spaniard was terrific. His defending was great and his crosses were truly first rate--crowned of course by the brilliant cross for Giroud's equalizer. Arsenal created chance after chance on their left side largely because Monreal was causing problems all match. It might have been Nacho's best ever performance in an Arsenal shirt.