Everton return to the scene of last season’s self-anointed performance of Roberto Martinez’s reign so far, with veteran midfielder Gareth Barry calling on the Blues to beat the North London side at “their own game.”
“We feel we can go down there and play our normal game and try and beat Arsenal at what they do, playing good football.
“In terms of the players’ minds we will be going down to Arsenal with the same mindset.
“Especially in the first-half at Arsenal last season we were playing some really good football, everyone was on the same page, all the passing, all the movement seemed to be on top.”
Last year, the Toffees signaled their top 4 intentions with a fully-merited draw at the Emirates following a late stunner from Barcelona loanee, Gerard Deulofeu. Roberto Martinez described the performance that day as nothing short of “outstanding,” as they went toe-to-toe with the Gunners- mustering up an impressive 56% possession away from home against a team whose brief is, above all else, to retain the ball, creating numerous chances against the perennial top 4 achievers.
“You don’t want to measure a good performance without winning the game but from a technical point of view it was a fantastic performance,” the Blues manager said.
“The way we kept the ball and the way we imposed ourselves in possession was fantastic. In football you always need to look for what is missing if you cannot win the game but the good thing about that performance was that even when we went 1-0 down we showed an incredible character to come back and get a positive result.
“We played a very good Arsenal side, eye-to-eye and technically our performance was outstanding.
“So it is a performance that we always keep in mind…it is not the finished article because we wanted to win and get three points at the end of it.”
Martinez used his pre-match press conference to signal not only his support for his under-fire opposite number, but also to draw ideological comparisons between the styles of play exhibited by both sets of teams. Indeed, the Spaniard saw fit to criticise the defensive-minded “parasites,” both domestically and internationally, whose sole attempt is to nullify the opposition’s attacking influence.
‘Too many times you see a team that go for being a parasite; they give you the ball, defend, be destructive,’ Martinez argued.
‘That system doesn’t develop players. It’s the opposite – every two years they burn players. They need new players and they need new players to do things players don’t enjoy doing.
‘I believe the way the game should be played is in a specific manner; taking risks, and getting on the ball and relying on the talent of the players to score goals.’
Nevertheless, a staggering 20 points and 10 places separate the two teams coming into today’s fixture, with both sides in desperate need of 3 points to appease their disillusioned support- Wednesday’s 3-1 home defeat to AS Monaco has once again brought Wenger’s Arsenal future into question, while Everton lie precariously close to the Premier League drop zone.
Roberto Martinez is expected to shuffle his pack after Thursday’s 3-1 win over Young Boys in the Europa League, with Mo Besic, Aaron Lennon and John Stones all pushing for recalls. Elsewhere, Darron Gibson and Kevin Mirallas will hope to retain their places after impressive performances in midweek, although the former may well be deemed unfit to start his second game in just over three days.
It is to be imagined that Roberto will be wary of Arsenal’s attacking firepower and will continue with his new-found pragmatism against the big teams. With that in mind, expect Everton to play a a variation of 4-3-3, with Howard in goal, Coleman, Jagielka, Stones and Baines in defence, McCarthy, Barry and Besic in a narrow midfield 3, and Naismith and Lennon either side of Lukaku. The likes of Kone, Gibson, Barkley and Mirallas are all interesting options off the bench, if necessary.
Here’s to a (fingers’ crossed) much-needed 3 points…
COYB
Predicted Arsenal Starting 11: (4-2-3-1) Ospina, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Welbeck, Sanchez, Giroud
Predicted Everton Starting 11: (4-3-3) Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Baines, Barry, McCarthy, Besic, Lennon, Naismith, Lukaku
