Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: Killing the game off

Arsenal had 30 minutes of dominance against Crystal Palace. They scored just once. Their failure to kill the game off cost them. It is something Mikel Arteta must address.

Arsenal are showing improvement under Mikel Arteta. No doubt about it. However, in games like Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, they must show more ruthlessness to effectively and quickly kill off games when they are in the ascendancy.

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The Gunners scored in the 12th minute against Crystal Palace. At that point in the match, they were dominant. And then, for some curious reason, the intensity dropped, the Palace found a way back into the game, and the foot was well and truly removed from the gas pedal.

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This is a common problem with Arsenal. They score early then sit back and allow teams to play their game. Or they enjoy dominant periods of matches, fail to score, and then concede a silly goal at the other end. I can count a dozen times where we have allowed this to happen this season. Why can’t we seem to want to go for a second or third goal?  Why does our attacking play seem to collapse so easily when we have the attacking players to hurt teams after we have scored the opening goal?

Obviously, expecting three or four goals every game is a little naive, but it would be nice to see this team exercise some semblance of game management. Contrast how they let games slip to Liverpool, who are always in control of matches, able to kill off their opponents in their periods of dominance.

Maybe it is confidence. Perhaps it is concentration and attitude. Maybe it is fitness, especially under the high-intensity approach of Arteta that requires his players to cover more ground and play with more energy. Whatever it might be, this team needs to clock that they are losing games because of their inability to manage and kill off games.

Saturday’s match was a huge opportunity for Arsenal to thrust themselves back into the top-four race. And after an excellent start, there was reason for optimism. But with only one goal to show for their dominance, Palace’s equaliser was painfully inevitable. The two dropped points, combined with wins for Chelsea and Manchester United, leave the Gunners 11 points off the pace.

This season is now a write-off. Bar the Europa League, the only aim is for Arteta to show progress in the underlying processes that he is implementing and for the team to grow over the course of the campaign ahead of a crucial summer in which yet another rebuilding project can begin.

And if Arsenal do want to improve under Arteta, showing a greater awareness of game states will be vital. They have to learn to manage games, stay in them when the pressure is poured on, kill them off when they have the opportunity to, and develop the knack of winning.