Everton Defeat Not Fatal for Arsenal, but How They Respond Might Be

Arsenal's match at Goodison Park underlined why supporting the Gunners can be so agonising. Just when they appear capable of launching a credible title challenge, just when talk turns to maturity and mental strength, they undo themselves.

Arsenal showed patience and intelligence to fight back from a one-goal deficit to beat Stoke at the weekend. However, against Everton their frailties were exposed once again.

This was a crunch week for Arsenal, with trips to Everton and Manchester City seen as a litmus test for the validity of their title aspirations. Suffice to say, things have not got off to a good start. The onerous task of a trip to the Etihad Stadium just became even more difficult now that Arsenal have had the rug pulled out from under them, and their positive momentum is in danger of dissipating.

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Wenger's week so far:
Monday: Draws Bayern in #UCL last 16.
Tuesday: Loses first PL game since August. pic.twitter.com/v0oOS4VcJn

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) December 13, 2016"

It's impossible to escape the conclusion that Arsenal suffered for the absence of Shkodran Mustafi. The German's partnership with Laurent Koscielny has been one of the cornerstones of Arsenal's success this season. Since arriving from Valencia, he has looked like great value—which is saying something for a player who cost the best part of £35 million. 

Everton would have been one of the fixtures that Mustafi was anticipating most eagerly. He was with the Toffees as a teenager but couldn't make a first-team breakthrough under David Moyes. How he would have loved to return to Goodison Park as a full-fledged Germany international and starter in an Arsenal team fighting for top spot in the Premier League. 

Unfortunately, fate had other ideas. Mustafi picked up a hamstring injury in the match against Stoke, and Arsenal were forced into a defensive reshuffle that proved costly. Gabriel Paulista had been performing above expectations at right-back, but his partnership in the centre with Koscielny did not appear as robust as Arsenal's customary pairing.

Chris Brunskill - AMA/Getty Images

Until this Everton match, Arsenal had not conceded a headed goal all season. With Mustafi absent, they shipped two. While that also doubtless owes something to the quality of Everton's delivery, Mustafi's aerial ability would surely have helped safeguard against the Toffees' threat.

With Per Mertesacker still recovering from an injury acquired in preseason, Wenger's options are limited. The veteran German would be a good replacement for Mustafi, but he's unlikely to be available before the new year. One option for Wenger to turn to is youngster Rob Holding, whose height would afford Arsenal some security at set pieces.

Holding has limited Premier League experience but has looked remarkably assured when he's been called upon thus far. Calling him up for the City game would be a huge ask, but Wenger has shown time and time again that he's not afraid to throw young players into the deep end.

However, the most likely solution remains trying to drill Gabriel and Koscielny into a cohesive partnership. Steve Bould will have his work cut out on the training ground trying to recreate the understanding that exists between the Frenchman and Mustafi.

There's a language barrier to overcome—Gabriel's English remains far from fluent. However, as Arsenal's most experienced reserve centre-half, he is the sensible choice.

Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

With Mustafi and Mertesacker out, this is a great opportunity for the Brazilian to earn his stripes at Arsenal. He must seize it just as Granit Xhaka has taken advantage of Santi Cazorla's absence in the midfield. The Swiss was one of few decent performers in the Arsenal side at Everton. 

It's not just the defence that needs work. Wenger was keen to emphasise that Arsenal also suffered for a lack of efficiency at the other end of the pitch, per Arsenal.com:

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We lost the game because I feel we started well and after that maybe we lost a bit of urgency because we were a bit too comfortable and then Everton made it very physical. Overall, I believe that from then on it disturbed our game and we created less flow going forward. In the end, we unfortunately didn't take our chances or two. We didn't create too many but we had clear-cut chances in the game that we didn't take. After that you can be caught away from home on a corner like that.

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It's certainly true that Arsenal were wasteful in front of goal, with Mesut Ozil particularly guilty. Alex Iwobi was also unfortunate to see a late effort cleared off the line. However, Wenger arguably did little to help matters with the introduction of Olivier Giroud.

The Frenchman's style of play is most compatible with an emphasis on crosses, and that shift in approach actually appeared to derail Arsenal's attacking play. Giroud is an effective substitute, but only under the right circumstances. Given the way Arsenal were playing, Spaniard Lucas Perez might have been a more appropriate option.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Arsenal have their deepest squad in years, and that places even more emphasis on the importance of Wenger's personnel decisions.  

It's not all doom and gloom. After all, this is Arsenal’s first Premier League defeat since the opening weekend of the season, when they lost at home to Liverpool. It's also their first loss on the road since last season's ill-fated trip to Old Trafford. Wenger is right to try to keep emotions in check. Speaking to Arsenal.com, the Gunners boss attempted to play down the significance of the result: 

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We have been nine months unbeaten away from home so you have to take that a little bit with a distance as well. You can lose football games, especially in an atmosphere like that and especially as well when you play so many games. We played five of the six games away from home, we had to play the Champions League on Tuesday, we had a difficult game on Saturday. We have to come here straight away again on Tuesday, I think Champions League teams have a little bit of a more difficult schedule.

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However, the worry for Arsenal fans is that defeat may break the spell that had enabled Arsenal to keep pace with Chelsea. Confidence is a cumulative thing, helped by every positive result. We've seen in the past that one slip-up can lead to Arsenal imploding. They can be disturbingly brittle at times.

Now comes the real test. It was always unrealistic to believe Arsenal could stay unbeaten for the remainder of the Premier League campaign. It's how they respond to this inevitable setback that could define their season. Wenger must rally the troops. A positive result against Manchester City could transform the mood about the club and reignite their title hopes.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout 2016/17. Follow him on Twitter here.