Michael Ball tackles the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton's 2-0 defeat to Arsenal

Everton might not have expected a lot from the Chelsea and Arsenal matches but a lot of the frustration came from the manner in which we lost both of them. David Moyes said we weren’t doing enough in the forward areas, so we need to find a solution to that and it could be playing the likes of Tyler Dibling.

This could be the moment that some of these fringe players need because when you’re frustrated about a lack of minutes, you have to take an opportunity when it comes your way.

I thought Hayden Hackney did well when he came on at the Emirates Stadium, getting the ball, trying to go forward and popping the question by having a shot. He wasn’t rewarded but he used his football intelligence in conditions that were wet and windy, anticipating that the keeper might spill it and it was good to see.

We’ve now suffered an injury to Vitalii Mykolenko so there could be question marks over who plays in the full-back positions over the next few games. That could prove a huge opportunity for Hackney to start as our midfield is open and a lot of teams are exploiting that.

What David Moyes has got to realise is that opponents are looking at Everton and the slow starts are hurting us and giving us uphill challenges to get back into games, whether it’s the second half or the first half this time around.

I was never a fan of playing Jarrad Branthwaite at left-back. With the injury problems he’s suffered from over the past year or so, we don’t need him putting in all that extra running in a position that he’s not familiar with.

He’s done okay there in the past, but I think we learned at Hull that it’s not really his role and he didn’t look 100% and it felt like a gamble with his body. I think I’d be looking at putting James Garner in one of the full-back positions because he’s clever with position and we want to start dictating teams, especially at home.

Okay, it’s not a long-term fix but I think it’s something that Moyes should take a look at as it would also provide Hackney with an opportunity in midfield and get some minutes under his belt as when he has been picked, he’s tried to do the right things and I like his thought process.

Brennan Johnson doesn’t look like he’s an out-and-out winger. He reminds me of Theo Walcott a little bit with the way he stands because he wants the ball in behind to run on to.

As a winger, you need to be able to show for your feet and get the ball like Dibling and Jack Grealish do, but he’s not that type of player. Perhaps he could be an option to go up front alongside Thierno Barry or replace him when he needs to come off the pitch where he could spin and try and get behind opposition defenders.

I just wanted us to get at Arsenal quite early and not let them get into a rhythm. They’re a top side and they’ve got two players in every position who are all quality, so we knew it was going to be difficult but because of the Champions League match on the Wednesday, I hoped they might be a little bit fatigued and we could rock them a bit at the start.

Unfortunately, it’s another game where a slow start has cost us. This time in the first half.

Arsenal really came at us from the off and put us under a lot of pressure, getting a few corners back-to-back and we couldn’t really defend them properly.

We’ve conceded from another corner with players switching off in those situations costing us. You felt: “Oh no, it’s going to be a long afternoon and could end up being a 4-0 or 5-0 situation.”

Johnson was supposed to be marking Ezri Konsa and I don’t know why he’s doing it because that’s a mismatch. He didn’t follow the run and switched off, letting Konsa get goal-side and he was on his toes to get the rebound for the second ball to put it in the net.

After that I thought we actually reacted pretty well and went at Arsenal, getting into the game a little bit. Tyrique George had a decent effort which was defended well by Ben White.

Unfortunately, our quality from corners was poor again. Our delivery has been like that all season and we’re not making the most of situations.

I was in the away end and could see five Arsenal players at the front post and thought 'surely we’re not going to hit the first man', but we did and that was really frustrating. When you’re playing against the best teams in the league, your set-pieces are really important but we just didn’t make the most of that.

Our reaction to the goal petered out after about 10 minutes or so though and Arsenal quickly got back into their rhythm, which we didn’t have an answer to. It’s not just down to tactics, it’s about winning your individual battles.

You’re playing against the Premier League champions and it’s a tough ask, but we just gave them too much respect. Yes, they’re a great side and they can keep possession with loads of patterns of play and movement with one-touch, two-touch stuff in dangerous areas, but you’ve still got to challenge for the ball or press them, not just defend the box.

You could see when the changes came on, Dibling had more touches of the ball than Johnson had in the previous 72 minutes. He might slow the game down but he gives the chance for our back four to get up the pitch.

We’ve got three matches coming up before the next international break and although the next one is in the Carabao Cup, we want to see how many points we could get in this block and they’re big games for us because they can change the whole momentum of our season and the way it is going. You want to progress to the next round in the cup because that keeps up a positive feeling but it’s consecutive fixtures against Newcastle who are just starting to turn their season around a little bit before Frank Lampard returns to Everton.