The three strange Arsenal calls Mikel Arteta made against Everton that proved costly

The title race continues to be dangled in front of Arsenal but no matter what Liverpool continue to do to hand them a chance at taking advantage of their dropped points, the Gunners - like a cartoon animal wearing a carrot on a string - remain unable to close the gap. The big question is: why?

What has changed this season which sees a group very similar to that of last season fail to look as threatening? The attack feels blunt, and when the chances have come, they have failed to take them.

Jordan Pickford had a good day in the Everton net, and without a doubt, the week-plus that Sean Dyche had to work on the game compared to Arsenal’s two days showed. They came up with a game plan and they executed it, but that is no excuse here and Arsenal will come up against sides just as good as Everton and better who will look to frustrate them – on Saturday they failed.

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Dyche spoke about the "fantastic players" that Arsenal have but they were kept pretty quiet. As they were at Fulham, as they were at Newcastle, as they were at Bournemouth.

While it was great to see Myles Lewis-Skelly start and I felt the starting XI was the right call but there was such an emphasis of caution and control that was not there in midweek. The substitutions were part-enforced in the case of Declan Rice but it was described as a tactical change for Martin Odegaard to come off.

While it would be fair to say the skipper was not having his best performance, if there is a player who can create something from nothing, it is him. As a result of him coming off, Arsenal looked less creative and failed to generate a meaningful opportunity.

Ethan Nwaneri coming on is something almost all fans can get behind, but the straight swap did not change anything tactically. I cannot be too harsh on someone who is, in simple terms, a 17-year-old prodigy. If he is expected to save Arsenal’s title hopes at home to Everton… well, that is rather telling.

But at the same time, I feel if you are to bring him on, and it is easy to say with hindsight, add him to Odegaard, not instead of him. And then comes Partey at right-back; while Lewis-Skelly coming off is not an issue, as he has suffered with a foot infection of late… Kieran Tierney is there – a ready-made left-back who is great at crossing. Arteta should love this.

Jorginho also came on during the second half to offer what Arteta calls "control". Yet Arsenal needed more risk-takers and something more unpredictable that perhaps a certain Raheem Sterling might have been able to offer.

The biggest call for me that Arteta made is to not take some ownership in the post-match press conference. Again he praised his side and said only one team deserved to win it but there were reasons why they didn't and they were not all because of Jordan Pickford – it lacked accountability in a game that could be defining in the title race.