Sam Allardyce: Everton 'pathetic' in 5-1 Arsenal defeat

Everton manager Sam Allardyce said he was "very angry" about a "pathetic" and "unacceptable" display as they lost 5-1 at Arsenal in the Premier League.

Allardyce accused his players of failing to follow his instructions as they fell 4-0 behind by half-time.

Having switched from a back four to a three-man central defence, he witnessed a disorganised display.

"I have a lot of trouble with the players taking on to the pitch what we asked them to do," Allardyce said.

Describing the display as a "disaster", he added: "I'm not frustrated. I'm angry - very angry - at the players performing to that level. It's unacceptable.

"The players are showing so much inconsistency that I face an uphill battle trying to get them to play at their best week in, week out. It was a pathetic first-half performance."

Allardyce won three of his first four league games after taking over from Ronald Koeman in November.

However, Everton have won only one of nine matches in all competitions since, scoring five goals.

Allardyce said he set up his team at Emirates Stadium on Saturday to mimic the 5-4-1 formation that Swansea had used to beat Arsenal 3-1 on Tuesday.

However, Everton lacked discipline, with new loan signing Eliaquim Mangala - signed on loan from Manchester City on transfer deadline day - enduring a dreadful debut.

Allardyce said: "You set out to block the areas Arsenal like to play in. We had the same game plan that Swansea had on Tuesday.

"We studied how Swansea played, how defensively sound they were and how they limited Arsenal to very few chances.

"Swansea only had 30% possession but created chances, but I may as well have been talking in a foreign language. We didn't implement my plans either defensively or offensively and the game was dead and buried.

"It doesn't matter what system I pick - it's about players playing to their best. You can show them but it's up to the players."

"Embarrassing and hopeless"

BBC pundit Alan Shearer on Match of the Day:

Arsenal were brilliant and they could have scored six or seven goals.

From an Everton point of view, if ever there was an example of football coming back to bite you, it was this - after Sam Allardyce suggested in his press conference before the game that Arsenal's defence was weak.

Everton were all over the place. They were embarrassing. They were hopeless defensively in the first 45 minutes.