Arsenal: Game management the biggest problem

Arsenal have won only one league game under head coach Mikel Arteta. The biggest reason why is their lacking game management, especially when defending a lead.

Mikel Arteta has made a whole lot of progress in the short time he has been Arsenal head coach. From the increased intensity of the pressing to the greater structure in and out of possession, there have been plenty of tactical wrinkles that show that Arteta is beginning to build something positive.

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But for all of the beneficial impact that the Spaniard has had on the team, he has still only led them to one league victory in his five games in charge. So why the disconnect? Why the encouraging performances but lacklustre results?

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Well, there are many reasons, of course. Football is a complicated game with many moving parts. But perhaps the greatest issue that Arteta must address is the lacking game management of his team, especially when they have a lead.

In the five Premier League matches, Arsenal have scored first in four. They have held a half-time lead in four, only winning one of those games, and entered the final 10 minutes with a lead in two of these five matches, winning neither, including Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Sheffield United in which John Fleck scored an 83rd equaliser.

After that disappointing draw, striker Alexandre Lacazette, speaking to RMC Sport, had some choice words for himself and his teammates:

"“They were not very dangerous but this match summarises how we are this season. We are winning the match but don’t get it over the line. We are quite naive at the moment. We need to be nastier and more consistent in the 90th to 93rd minutes of matches. Especially when we can do better than this. We have the players required. It is a shame.”"

While describing your team as ‘naive’ is perhaps not the greatest way to endear yourself to your teammates, especially in a public, post-match interview, but when presented with the comments, Arteta largely agreed with Lacazette’s assessment. Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Arteta said:

"“Yes, I think it’s part of game management. I think there are things that we could have done better there to put more pressure on the opponent, to bring the ball into certain areas where we can rest with the ball and we can control the game better. That will come, it’s a good process for us as well to learn about those situations.”"

What is most frustrating is that Arsenal have enjoyed dominant periods in these matches. In fact, you could argue they were the superior team in all of them, only they failed to take advantage of their superiority. They were not ruthless in front of goal, they did not kill off their opponents when they had the opportunity to, and they ultimately grew nervous and tentative late on.

While playing attractive, free-flowing, positive football is the hope of many supporters and managers, ultimately, football is about winning and losing, and under Arteta, Arsenal are not very good at winning matches that they deserve to. If the new head coach is to have success in north London, then, he and his team must rectify their game management issues.