Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: 5 things we learned

5 of 5

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 11: Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal FC at Selhurst Park on January 11, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

1. Old habits die hard

Mikel Arteta has spoken at length about changing the culture, the atmosphere and the belief in the dressing room. For all of the talk about the Pep Guardiola-inspired tactics and improved individual coaching, Arteta’s prime focus has centred on the attitude of the players, especially when they are defending.

While the high-pressing approach still paid dividends at times here, the vulnerabilities in defence were still present. Crystal Palace’s equaliser stemmed from a deep freekick where Arsenal were not organised to prevent the short pass and then far too slow to react in the penalty area, Granit Xhaka unable to close down the shot and David Luiz turning his back as he made a pitiful attempt to block Jordan Ayew’s effort.

The Arsenal defence is still creaky. The greater intensity of the frontline when pressing and structure of the central midfield has helped hide these deficiencies, but when the back four is asked to block out opponents for long periods, they begin to falter.

Next. Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: Player ratings. dark

And it all starts with concentration, communication, and organisation. I guess old habits really do die hard.

Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: 5 things we learned – Old habits die hard

By Andrew Dowdeswell | Jan 11, 2020

1. Old habits die hard