Arsenal 1 Everton 1 -- Ugh!

Arsenal might feel happy with a point after being outplayed by Everton most of the night, but chances were there to steal all three and we didn't take them. Last season, the club won a number of games late on, maybe none more important than the final goal to win at West Brom and secure third place. This term, draws have become the norm, and it sees us falling further and further behind in the race for the title (already gone) and even fourth pace. We certainly started brightly, with a nice run by Walcott, pass to Ramsey and then shuffle leading Walcott to his tenth goal in all competitions this term -- made more impressive because he has rarely started. He was the best offensive player on the pitch for Arsenal all night, and though he disappeared for much of the second half, losing him will make our attack even more anemic. First to player grades, and then a few takeaways from the game ...

Player Grades

Szczesny (8): while he might have gotten on to the equalizer, I think he was blocked and thus got a late jump. Otherwise he was solid throughout and had a number of decent saves, including one reaction to a header hand that saved the point. Late on he made a half-hearted clearance, but it came to naught. 

Sagna (6): if Sagna hadn't given the ball away that led to the equalizer, it would have been a decent night against arguably the best left back in the league right now (Baines). But he did, and also was sloppy a few other times with the ball, breaking up good possession. He did have some nice interceptions and blocks, but couldn't seem to get a cross past Baines, who blocked every single one of them. 

Mertesacker (8): continues to be our most solid defender this year. Many criticized his play last term, including me, but his lack of pace doesn't seem to be hurting Arsenal much as he gets in front of defenders, launches defensive headers out of the box and rarely shoots out a bad pass. 

Vermaelen (6.5): a better game from our captain, but I think he could have gotten out faster to block, or at least challenge, Fellaini's shot. But had a number of important defensive stops and challenges. One issue is his forward passes, which were too long on at least three occasions I counted. Either play like Mertesacker and get it to the middle, or improve your touch. 

Gibbs (6): a decent game that included a few decent crosses, but nothing spectacular. He was solid defensively and had one key tackle. 

Arteta (6.5): played decent in getting in front of Fellaini on occasion and pushing the ball out from the back, but it is clear that he is being wasted in the defensive midfield position he is currently playing. He had some nice tackles and interceptions, as I said, but gave up the ball several times and didn't really have the sort of passing acuity that drives the team forward.

Wilshire (6.5): Wilshire gave the ball away on several occasions, but played well from the middle and had a few nice creative moves, though none came off. Still improving but needs to try to get the ball to Giroud more often.

Cazorla (6): while he created a few decent pushes forward, Cazora continues in a minor slump, giving the ball away on the dribble, missing passes and not looking quite as sharp around the box. Also created a shot for himself, which he sent far wide and got a flick on a Ramsey soft pass that  almost snuck past Howard. 

Ramsey (5): many will say this is too harsh, particularly as he had an assist early on, but he is the blockade in the Arsenal attack at the moment -- in other words, the 12th man for the other team. I watched him carefully today, as some Gooners continue to think he's a decent player, but it just wasn't good enough. Yes he played slightly better for a spell in the second half and had a couple of good runs down the left, but both were blocked for corners. He also did get in a cross and almost assisted a Cazorla goal, but I thought he was otherwise horrible. In total, I count him giving the ball away 8 times, but he also held up attacks on at least three other occasions. He just doesn't do enough for me and even as he has a good shot, he rarely hits them on target. I truly believe we are a better team without him and would like to see him go on loan and bring in someone else. I even prefer Coquelin to him.

Walcott (8): Walcott is clearly our most confident player at the moment and has really turned his game around this year (forgoing the awful performance against united). He scored the early goal, pushed us forward on many occasions, sent in some good crosses and has improved his touch and toughness to maintain possession when challenged. If we let him go, as seems increasingly likely, I think it is the beginning of the end of the Wenger era. We simply lack too much talent and creativity to challenge for titles and silverware at the moment and with a drop in form from Giroud and Cazorla the past couple of games, we see that there are no real alternatives. 

Giroud (5): disappointing game for the big man, who had trouble controlling the ball when it came to him in the air and tended to send headers he did win to Everton players. He needs to learn to keep the ball close like Fellaini and Carroll do out of the air and head back toward his own players rather than taking a chance someone will happen to be clear behind him. His pass to Gervinho near the end could have won us three important points, but he inexplicably sent it in the air rather than on the ground and it was a touch too high for the Ivorian to head into an open goal. Very disappointing, but must say that he was not given any clear chances by the other players.

Subs:

Kos-->Gibbs (3rd Minute): this sub was so early that I just counted Gibbs as the starter. I just hope the injury to Kos is not too serious.
 
Gervinho-->Ramsey (79): too short a stint for a score to me, but had two nice runs down the left and might have scored the winner late with a better pass from Giroud, who put it to high in the air when it would have been much easier to just slot it across on the ground. I don't understand why he didn't sub in for a substandard Ramsey early.

Takeaways from Game

1. Wenger's Time Might Be Coming to an End: Wenger might well be the greatest Arsenal coach in the long history of Arsenal, advancing the game and pushing us away from the boring-old Arsenal tag, but his decisions over the past few seasons have sent this team from a first leg lead against Barcelona to pure mediocrity. I know it's not all his fault, but the well-worn critiques are there for everyone to see: a) he can't keep his best players (Fabergas, Van Persie, Clichy, Song, and maybe soon Sagna and Walcott), b) he rarely changes tactics these days and this often leads to stale performances, c) there is not sufficient squad depth, partially because we pay dead weight like Chamakh, Squillaci, Park (last year), etc. too much money, d) questionable performance in the transfer market (we might have had a shot at Hazard last year if not for the Park scalp), e) Staying with average players for too long (Eboue, Chamakh, Denilson and now Ramsey), f) he doesn't seem to motivate his players like he used to. Don't get me wrong -- I love Arsene and want him to win. But his stubbornness has seen a team that challenged for titles and silverware every year become satisfied with fourth place and a champions league birth (itself a challenge this year). If you look at Fergie or Moyes, you have coaches that seem to push their teams to win games on will alone. This is rarely the case with the Gunners, who more often give back leads (the Champions League final still stings) or fail to finish games off. The winter transfer window will probably be the most important of Wenger's Arsenal career, and if he comes up short in bringing in a few players, I think it's time to reevaluate his future.

2. We Need More Options Up Front: before today, Arsenal had scored more goals than at this point last year, but sit much further down the table with fewer points. The big problem is no one on the squad is a proven scorer we can turn to late for some magic. Walcott has certainly come good, but I am still unconvinced of him playing up front, unless it is in a 4-4-2 (which could work) -- and it is quite likely he is heading out the door. Giroud is a strong player who will only get better, but he needs better service and to firm up his first touch. Beyond this, who is there? Podolski could slot into the middle, but Wenger seems to like him on the left. I would like to see how he does there, but then what do we do with Giroud and who plays left winger? Gervinho seems a little better to me this year, but I am again unconvinced of him up front, particularly with the new Arsenal tendency to send balls to the striker in the air. Mirallas would have been a good signing, but he probably made the smart choice for more playing time at Everton. Rumors have us in for Lopez, Llorente and Huntelaar. I think we really need to splash the cash and get another quality striker. I also think we need another winger, particularly if Walcott is not going to sign a new contract.

3. Ramsey Needs to Be Loaned Out: I'm not ready to give up on Aaron, as I like the player, but he is simply not good enough at the moment. Some people point to the stats and say he is the engine of the attack (against West Ham), but we didn't score, people! It's an idiotic argument. He just has a tendency to  take too long on the ball, to pass backwards, to dribble in and lose the ball or to try a too tight pass into the box. A loan spell could increase his confidence, but right now I really do believe he is hurting the team (even as he did have an assist and created a couple of other chances today).

4. Motivation/Consistency: watching the team after the goal and in the waning minutes of the match, I saw a real lack of belief. We simply lack the confidence and fortitude to see out games when we are ahead, or come back when we are behind. In the last month or so, we have ceded two goal leads twice and the one goal lead today. Something is just not right with this club and it seems that it is the manager's job to motivate his players and give them the belief they can win. That just isn't happening at the moment and Arsenal give up the ball as much as Stoke at the moment. There is still talent and creativity on this team, but we need more discipline, cooler heads and better creativity in the final third. If one had said at the beginning of the season that we would have four clean sheets by now, I would think we were in the title race -- but instead we have ended three of those games in 0-0 ties. It's simply not good enough and a sign that change must come sooner rather than later.

5. The future: I think Arsenal are on the cusp of becoming Liverpool rivals (in other words, a mid-table team). We now have money to spend and could build on some of the talent we currently have, but will Wenger do this? He still claims he wants to build teams from the youth ranks up -- but this just isn't working, as they move on to better things the moment they become stars (Nasri, RVP, Fabergas, Song, maybe Walcott, etc.). These players have their true break out year and then they are gone. Wenger needs to splash some cash on quality players now and hope that they gel into the system quickly. What do we need? I think it is quite obvious: a) we need a solid defensive midfielder, so Arteta can play farther up the pitch (we do miss Song). b) a backup striker that is world class (Huntelaar, Llorente, or someone else). c) a creative winger/midfielder to replace Ramsey and/or Walcott (Zaha is obviously the first choice there). We could also use another left back, though that probably won't happen in the winter. We supposedly have 30 million to spend in January and need to do so. Let's hope Wenger agrees.

To finish on a slightly more positive note, the one piece of good news for the Gunners is a string of fixtures we could win (though who knows with this team --> overall record this year in all competitions: W 10 D 7 L 4). They include: Swansea City and West Brom at home (the latter an almost must-win), Reading and Wigan on the road and then West Ham and Newcastle at home. These are six winnable fixtures to end the year and we really need at least 12 points to move up the table. We also have a very winnable away match to Olympiakos (to give us a shot at topping the group) and quarterfinal away Capital one match at Bristol City. It is time for us to assert ourselves and start winning matches! Let's hope we do.