Arteta, right, had a watching brief from the directors’ box alongside Edu, Arsenal’s technical director PHIL NOBLE/REUTERSGiven the time of year, and the unique circumstances, forgive me for adapting a bit of seasonal verse to summarise the story of this match: four managers, three French men, two turgid clubs and a selfie in the director’s box. The last of those was performed by Carlo Ancelotti, the Italian aristocrat of football management dramatically appointed by Everton just before kick-off — reportedly with the third-largest salary of any coach in Europe — to relieve caretaker Duncan Ferguson. With Mikel Arteta also watching from the stands having been hired by Arsenal yesterday, casting his pomaded shadow over Freddie Ljungberg, this fixture was suddenly infused with excitement. Sadly, that was not matched by anything that occurred on the pitch during this dreadful goalless draw, which…

Source: The Times December 21, 2019 18:20 UTC