Daily Mail
"Sat high up in the directors' box, flanked by their new executives, neither Carlo Ancelotti nor Mikel Arteta looked particularly impressed by a grim Caretaker derby," writes Joe Bernstein for the Daily Mail .
"Interims Duncan Ferguson and Freddie Ljungberg got plenty of effort in their final games in charge, but not much quality.
"Arteta sat impassively next to Gunners managing director Vinai Venkatesham with 87-year-old Ken Friar, club secretary during the glory years of George Graham and Arsene Wenger, also in the travelling party.
"Arteta has learned from the very best, Pep Guardiola, at Manchester City and is a former Arsenal player, but it looks a monumental challenge to get Arsenal challenging the rest of the Big Six.
"Ljungberg picked a young team featuring five starters aged 22 or under and a first clean sheet in 15 was very welcome.
"But there was little of the attacking fluency associated with the club and their only clear-cut chance was spurned by skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shortly before he was substituted."
The Telegraph
"On this evidence there is plenty of work to do for Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta. Both were in the directors’ box at Goodison Park and got a close-up look at why their new teams have been struggling this season," Mike McGrath writes for the Telegraph.
"Ancelotti wore that circumspect look he bears whether he has won the Champions League or been defeated in a pre-season friendly, while Arteta was sandwiched between Arsenal directors and his expression never strayed from serious.
"They watched a game short on quality and goalmouth action, aside from a superb save from Jordan Pickford to deny a winner for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
"There was no hint of the “Caretaker Derby” becoming a carefree, open final game for Duncan Ferguson and Freddie Ljungberg before they handed over the reins to the Premier League’s newest managerial appointments.
"In the final seconds of the game the pair spoke while the ball was still in play, Ljungberg’s hand cupping his mouth and Ferguson with his arm around his counterpart."
The Guardian
"The best that could be said of this anticlimactic affair is that Everton and Arsenal have to be happy with a point apiece after playing so poorly," writes Paul Wilson for the Guardian.
"Duncan Ferguson claimed he wanted to be tucking into Christmas dinner with another three points in the bag, but as Everton games under their colourful caretaker-manager go, this was quiet.
"As openings of new eras go, with Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta watching from the stands, it was worryingly underwhelming.
"Everton saved one of their most insipid performances of a below average season for their freshly arrived new manager, while Arsenal gave an adequate account of themselves but no more, Freddie Ljungberg’s challenging selection giving Arteta plenty to think about."
The Independent
"The future should be brighter for Everton and Arsenal but the present was distinctly unpleasant," writes Richard Jolly for the Independent. "As Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta watched on from the directors’ box, they witnessed the scale of the tasks each has taken on.
"The sorriest of stalemates amounted to an illustration of the vast scope for improvement at both clubs.
"Arsenal’s first clean sheet in 15 games and only Everton’s second in the league since August were not achievements as much as indictments of the opposition’s attacking impotence.
"It was an ignominious way for each to end life in limbo. Few matches have more misdirected passes, stray touches or hopeless crosses.
"Ineptitude was a recurring theme.
"Freddie Ljungberg has a solitary win to show from his six games at the Arsenal helm. He failed an audition for the job, but he made a statement in other respects. Arsenal’s record buy, Nicolas Pepe, was an unused substitute. Their player of the year, Alexandre Lacazette, was confined to a 12-minute cameo. Their best-paid footballer, Mesut Ozil, was injured, but Ljungberg said he would have been omitted anyway for his petulant reaction to being substituted against Manchester City."
