Marcus Rashford links and more

Saturday’s draw against Everton was very disappointingEspecially after beating Monaco in the Champions League.

I really expected that midweek success to lift Arsenal at the weekend, but it didn’t happen. Everton arrived with a game plan and Arsenal never looked like they had an answer.

You can talk about fatigue and point to the fact that Everton had ten days to rest and prepare for the game, but Mikel Arteta’s side should have been able to find a way past them.

They had a lot of possession and a lot of territory, but honestly they never looked able to score and that was the disappointing thing. They don’t seem to have a clue how to break down Everton.

I really liked the look of the starting lineup when it was announced. It seemed balanced on both sides, with all players playing in their natural positions. But I think a lot of players had an off day.

It should be noted that Everton played well. They have been trained very well and you can see they have spent the last 10 days working out exactly how to frustrate Arsenal.

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They denied them space, especially on the right side and kept things very narrow in the central areas.

But Arsenal’s performance was as bad as Everton’s was good. Martin Odegaard hasn’t looked well and hasn’t been in the last few games and we know how much that affects this Arsenal team.

When Odegaard is involved, Arsenal are a completely different proposition. This cannot be denied. But when he is absent or struggling to find his form, they don’t have anyone else who can replicate what he does.

Mikel Merino played alongside him on Saturday and you can see he is still making his way into the Arsenal team. He didn’t make any mistakes against Everton, but he didn’t add anything offensively.

He was never a threat and you never felt like he would be the one to open up Everton’s defence.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I would have preferred to see Mikel Arteta replace Merino with Ethan Nwaneri when the youngster came on early in the second half. Having Nwaneri and Odegaard next to each other in those pockets in front of Everton’s back four would have given the visitors something a little different to think about.

Instead, it was all very predictable and in the end they seemed very comfortable. There was no real siege of their goal, in fact Jordan Pickford was barely tested in the final half hour. Arsenal are out of ideas.

Marcus Rashford’s name always seems to come up When it comes to Arsenal these days.

He always seems to be part of the conversation, certainly among fans anyway, and that could be the case again as we head into January given what’s going on with him at Manchester United at the moment.

Do I think he could be an opportunity for Arsenal? I don’t think so to be honest. I’m not sure it’s what they need.

If Rashford was still the same as he was two years ago, my thoughts would be different. But if that were the case, he would be playing week in, week out for United at the moment.

But it’s not, and there’s a reason for that. So, if Arsenal, or anyone else, moves for him in January, they will do so in the hope that he can rediscover his best form again.

It would just be a gamble. Similar to what Arsenal did with Raheem Sterling in the summer, this was certainly not a successful gamble. Rashford would be much more expensive too.

I think Arsenal have to pull something out of the bag in January. They clearly need at least one more viable option in the final third, even if it is a loan deal to get them into the summer where they can really push for their main targets.

This season has shown that they need more. They felt in the summer that they left themselves at least one striker short, and that was with Sterling’s late loan move into account.

The fact that Sterling doesn’t seem to be being considered for minutes now, even when the team is desperate for a goal, really shows that the team is perhaps a couple of attacking players short in terms of where they need to be.

So January looks crucial for Arsenal and their ambitions during the second half of the season. It will not be easy to find what is needed, but they will have to do their best.

It feels as if the last two seasons have been a bit affected by Arsenal and Manchester City.

Both seasons have been very demanding and both teams have pushed each other hard, which may have taken their toll.

From Arsenal’s point of view, the effort they put in, both physically and mentally, to try and get past City was enormous. And to do all that and not cross the line must be very difficult.

We have to look at getting our sleeves up and going again, so that may have been a problem for them, especially after the summer of international tournaments ended meaning very few people could catch a break.

But it is what it is and they have to find a way to bounce back, otherwise this season could simply slip away and that would be very disappointing.

There is still time to salvage things in the Premier League, and Mikel Arteta’s side are in a good position in the Champions League and have a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie this week.

So their season is not over yet, even if they are behind Liverpool and Chelsea at the moment.

Chelsea have been impressive and should be considered contenders. They have a lot of attacking talent considering the money they have spent, and the midfield now looks very strong, which is not surprising when you have two players who cost over £100m.

They have the momentum right now and that could be powerful, so they need to be in the conversation when it comes to the title.

There is a lot of excitement at Arsenal over Miles Lewis Skelly.

I think the rise of Ethan Nwaneri has taken some of the spotlight off of Lewis Skelly a bit, allowing him to go under the radar, which can be a good thing for a young player.

But when you look at it, it’s Lewis Skelly who has now got the chance to start in the Champions League and Premier League, not Nwanyere.

This says a lot about the way Arsenal and Mikel Arteta view him. It’s not just his ability that got him where he is, it’s also his mind. He is seen as someone who can take it all on himself and can play with a maturity well beyond his years.

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This is something that has impressed the staff at Arsenal. They appreciate how calm he is and how clearly he thinks things through. I think you can see that in the way he plays as well.

Clearly, Arteta saw something in him that made him see him as an inverted left-back in the system he played in. This is still something relatively new for Lewis Skelly, who entered the academy as a midfielder.

But the way he handled it shows how good of a player he is and I think that’s definitely a position we’ll continue to see him work in over the next couple of seasons.