Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen (No 5) celebrates after scoring the second of Arsenal's six goals
A summer of whispering doubt, silenced. Arsenal started this season apparently clutching desperately to their place at the Premier League’s top table, hoping against hope for a future that may never arrive. Within 41 minutes, it was evident rumours of their demise had been greatly exaggerated. Fighting for fourth? Threatened by the Eastlands oil billions? A club crippled by the forlorn hope of its stubborn manager? Arsène knows.
It is easy to get carried away at this time of the year. It is in mid-August when bold predictions are made. Yet it is no exaggeration to say that none of Manchesters United and City, Chelsea or Liverpool will come to Goodison Park and demolish Everton in as imperious a fashion as Arsene Wenger’s side.
The scoreline was, if anything, kind to David Moyes’s side. Denilson opened the scoring with a beautiful 20-yard shot from Cesc Fàbregas’s cut-back, Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas headed home unmarked from inviting free kicks and Fàbregas, deservingly, rolled the ball under Tim Howard after Robin van Persie set him clear just after the interval to complete the humiliation. He added the fifth with 20 minutes to go. The artistry of Wenger’s protégés, though, cannot be distilled into pure numbers.
The Frenchman’s revamped 4-2-3-1 formation purred, his attacking quartet interchanging positions and possession with effortless grace. Fàbregas orchestrated play and dictated tempo, inflicting the death by a thousand cuts which accounted for Everton’s defence. As the Spaniard milked the adulation of Arsenal’s travelling support after adding the fourth, his vanquished opponents stood awestruck.
Even amid the joy, Fabregas found time, after jauntily skipping through Everton’s midfield to add the fifth, to run to the bench and hold aloft a shirt bearing the name of Daniel Jarque, the Espanyol captain and Fabregas’s fellow Catalan who died of a heart attack last week. The Arsenal captain’s class extends off the pitch, too, it seems.
Behind him, Alex Song appears to have matured into the natural heir to the much-missed Mathieu Flamini, although that may, in fact, be unkind. Song is more elegant and more creative than the Frenchman.
The aspect that may have pleased Wenger most was the performance of Thomas Vermaelen, the new centre-back derided for a lack of height, who towered over every other player on the field. His reading of the game is expert, his tacking ferocious, his distribution flawless. He took everything Jo, Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill could throw at him. Arsenal’s fans sang his name inside the first 15 minutes. That may be some sort of record.
Had Manchester City been watching, they may have questioned why they want to pay £24 million for Joleon Lescott, who was helpless despite the unflinching support of a Goodison Park crowd who are desperate not to see him leave, when the Belgian international cost half that amount.
To suggest he was at fault for any of the goals would be to stretch a point, but his display was symptomatic of the general malaise which affected Everton here. Moyes suggested on Friday that the saga surrounding the England international’s future has “disrupted” the club. It sounded a cliché at the time, yet his players contrived to somehow bear out the truth in his statement. Moyes needs an end to the saga, and he needs it soon. The prospect of all that money for a player who is, while a fine defender, eminently replaceable, may be more appealing to the Scot this morning than it was 24 hours ago.
Arsenal scored a sixth goal after a shot from Arshavin hit the post and Eduardo tucked home the rebound. Everton managed a consolation through Louis Saha.
Moyes’ squad are a work in progress. Arsenal, on this form, are one nearing completion.
It is easy to get carried away at this time of the year. It is in mid-August when bold predictions are made. Yet it is no exaggeration to say that none of Manchesters United and City, Chelsea or Liverpool will come to Goodison Park and demolish Everton in as imperious a fashion as Arsene Wenger’s side.
The scoreline was, if anything, kind to David Moyes’s side. Denilson opened the scoring with a beautiful 20-yard shot from Cesc Fàbregas’s cut-back, Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas headed home unmarked from inviting free kicks and Fàbregas, deservingly, rolled the ball under Tim Howard after Robin van Persie set him clear just after the interval to complete the humiliation. He added the fifth with 20 minutes to go. The artistry of Wenger’s protégés, though, cannot be distilled into pure numbers.
The Frenchman’s revamped 4-2-3-1 formation purred, his attacking quartet interchanging positions and possession with effortless grace. Fàbregas orchestrated play and dictated tempo, inflicting the death by a thousand cuts which accounted for Everton’s defence. As the Spaniard milked the adulation of Arsenal’s travelling support after adding the fourth, his vanquished opponents stood awestruck.
Even amid the joy, Fabregas found time, after jauntily skipping through Everton’s midfield to add the fifth, to run to the bench and hold aloft a shirt bearing the name of Daniel Jarque, the Espanyol captain and Fabregas’s fellow Catalan who died of a heart attack last week. The Arsenal captain’s class extends off the pitch, too, it seems.
Behind him, Alex Song appears to have matured into the natural heir to the much-missed Mathieu Flamini, although that may, in fact, be unkind. Song is more elegant and more creative than the Frenchman.
The aspect that may have pleased Wenger most was the performance of Thomas Vermaelen, the new centre-back derided for a lack of height, who towered over every other player on the field. His reading of the game is expert, his tacking ferocious, his distribution flawless. He took everything Jo, Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill could throw at him. Arsenal’s fans sang his name inside the first 15 minutes. That may be some sort of record.
Had Manchester City been watching, they may have questioned why they want to pay £24 million for Joleon Lescott, who was helpless despite the unflinching support of a Goodison Park crowd who are desperate not to see him leave, when the Belgian international cost half that amount.
To suggest he was at fault for any of the goals would be to stretch a point, but his display was symptomatic of the general malaise which affected Everton here. Moyes suggested on Friday that the saga surrounding the England international’s future has “disrupted” the club. It sounded a cliché at the time, yet his players contrived to somehow bear out the truth in his statement. Moyes needs an end to the saga, and he needs it soon. The prospect of all that money for a player who is, while a fine defender, eminently replaceable, may be more appealing to the Scot this morning than it was 24 hours ago.
Arsenal scored a sixth goal after a shot from Arshavin hit the post and Eduardo tucked home the rebound. Everton managed a consolation through Louis Saha.
Moyes’ squad are a work in progress. Arsenal, on this form, are one nearing completion.
