Everton boss David Moyes should solve Lescott problem the Wenger way

Everton 1-6 Arsenal

Given the way David Moyes spent much of this game with his head buried in his hands, he may feel in a hopeless position right now.

After courageously - and admirably - standing resolute against the monied cynicism of Manchester City in their uncouth pursuit of Joleon Lescott, the Everton boss finds himself with a team apparently distressingly unsettled by the unsavoury saga.

Moyes must wonder what his next step can be, given that he has no other fit centre halves, and to now sell the defender would leave him critically exposed at the start of the season, with a European game looming.

Yet if, on Saturday night, he needed inspiration in having to deal with the problem, then he had to look no further than the dressing room next door - if he could stomach the celebrations that came from within.

As Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger suggested afterwards, he has become something of expert in handling the sort of destabilising tactics that have undermined Everton.

Every summer they play out a pantomime at Arsenal, with clubs circling like vultures to pick over the carcass of another season, and pick off the tasty youngsters that the club produces.

This summer Manchester City themselves swooped in, to take not only their dependable central defender, but also their most obviously talented source of goals, while elsewhere Barcelona have kept up a seemingly endless pursuit in Cesc Fabregas.

Moyes will be wondering if he can now sell Lescott if City do make the improved offer, but Wenger's response to a similar situation could offer inspiration. 

He sold Kolo Toure and promptly went out and found a replacement, in Thomas Vermaelen, who - on initial impressions - looks a more solid, more composed replacement. 

He sold his centre forward, and responded by finding goals from midfield in the form of Fabregas that suggested Arsenal will cope comfortably with the loss of the, at times malevolent influence of Emmanuel Adebayor.

As Wenger suggested, sometimes you have to make a virtue of a problem. "I don't know if City have done anything wrong in relation to Lescott because I am not familiar with what has happened, but these things seem to happen all the time in football now," he said.

"It happens to us - we have the same story with Barcelona, who haven't contacted us over Fabregas, but have been talking all the time in the media. You can't stop it, you can't do anything about it.

"Every club has to deal with that nowadays, and react as best you can. It is difficult to say what impact it has on a team, but the worst thing is the uncertainty. You have to be one side or the other, but when you don't know it's hard for everyone.

"I can't comment on Lescott, but I've heard he's very professional, and I don't think the result today was anything to do with his performance. In the end it depends on how determined the player is to leave and what is behind his decision. This is football now."

Arsenal certainly have not capitulated as many suggested they would, after another summer of big sales and frugal outgoings. Indeed, they look stronger if anything, though Fabregas was right to suggest that these are very early days indeed, and that opening day results can often be eccentric.

Vermaelen seems to have brought a little bit of menace to their back line, and Fabregas is playing like a man committed to his cause, as he suggested afterwards. 

"We are all together here, we want players who are committed to the club and committed to playing together, and you could see that in our performance," he said.

"I think it was best for the players who left that they went, and best for us too. We are a team who are together, and we want that commitment in our squad."

Reports of Arsenal's demise are clearly greatly exaggerated, and they certainly have the talent to compete at the top this season, even if their inexperience may yet prevent them from winning the title.

But what of Everton? Moyes insisted afterwards that the Lescott situation didn't affect his side's performance, and he also bluntly stated the player was not for sale, but if the offer is high enough this week, then maybe Moyes should take the money, and find an even better replacement, just as Wenger has done, because they can't afford a repeat of this performance.

The Everton boss knows it too, as his grim humour afterwards suggested.

"I don't think there's much point in me shouting and balling about that one today. I think they know all round that it just wasn't acceptable.

"There was a manager sacked for seven after one game so I'm not immune to that either. I'm the same. We've lost six today so it's no different for me than it is for any other manager. 

"I'll need to pull my socks up and try and do better with the players that I have. It's my responsibility to make sure those players do perform on the pitch and they didn't perform today so I take that responsibility.

"I think it's my job to get them correctly prepared and maybe I've not done that. I'll need to have a look at things I've done over the last week or two."

That will surely include Lescott, who was at fault for at least two of the goals. Most worrying for Everton was the fact that they were so vulnerable at set pieces - usually their great strength.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the Lescott saga has undermined confidence at Goodison, and chipped away at their famous team spirit, and sense of togetherness.

The Blues back line must have looked across at their team-mate - however fleetingly - and wondered what his commitment is, whether he was bothered about winning and losing.

And that was all the encouragement a rampant Arsenal needed. They are a sublime side when given the space to develop their classy passing skills, and were they given space on a warm Merseyside evening.

Certainly, the irony wasn't lost on a despondent home crowd that it was the visitors who looked so assured on set pieces, and who exploited Everton weakness in that area so ruthlessly.

Saying all that, it was a tight contest until the 26th minute, when Bendtner controlled beautifully on the left, stroked the ball inside to Fabregas, who rolled it on for Denilson to curl wonderfully into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Everton could have levelled when Fellaini's header was cleared from the line by Denilson, and Vermaelen found himself completely unmarked on 37 minutes to head home a Robin Van Persie free kick from the right, and that condemned the Blues to defeat, as their resistence was smashed.

Painfully, William Gallas got free again at a set piece, heading home Fabregas's left wing delivery when in at least six yards of space, and Everton were left licking their wounds.

The second half was merely about how many, and the answer was six, with Fabregas showing his quality as he ran at will from midfield without challengers, first to convert a left wing cross from Van Persie on 48 minutes, then to stroke home after running from half way.

He offered a tribute to the Espanyol captain Jarque, who tragically died this week, after a training session. The pair were friends from way back in youth football in Barcelona, so the message was fitting.

Everton capitulated further two minutes from time, to allow Arsenal to equal the biggest ever opening day win in Premier League history, with substitute Eduardo tapping in a rebound from Arshavin's shot that hit the post.

Home substitute Louis Saha did manage a late goal - though it was certainly no consolation - but Moyes must now go and have a long hard think about the Lescott situation, and where he goes with it.

Everton : Howard 6; Hibbert 5 (Gosling 58, 5), Yobo 5, Lescott 4, Baines 5; Osman 5 (Rodwell 58, 5), Neville 5, Cahill 5, Pienaar 5; Fellaini 5; Jo 4 (Saha 58, 6).

Arsenal : Almunia 6; Sagna 6, Gallas 6, Vermaelen 8, Clichy 6; Song 7, Fabregas 9 (Ramsey 72min), Denilson 7; Bendtner 6 (Eboue 63, 6), Van Persie 7 (Eduardo 72, 6), Arshavin 7.