Theo Walcott accuses Arsenal star of ‘being too comfortable’ after Crystal Palace draw

Theo Walcott fears Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is ‘too comfortable’ and needs to be challenged after another worrying display in last night’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.

Liverpool now need only a draw at home against Tottenham on Sunday to be crowned champions, while the Gunners are now nervously looking over their shoulder with second place now far from guaranteed considering their Champions League commitments and remaining domestic matches.

Last night’s setback represented a 13th draw in the Premier League this season as Mikel Arteta’s men twice conceded the lead and threw away two valuable points.

Odegaard was partially responsible for Jean-Philippe Mateta’s late equaliser after he played William Saliba into trouble and was then bullied to the floor by the French striker whose sumptuous chip left David Raya stranded.

The Arsenal skipper has, by his recent high-standards, endured a difficult campaign and struggled to find his best form following a serious ankle injury that required surgery.

Odegaard remains the creative heartbeat of his side but Walcott believes it is time the former Real Madrid playmaker faced more competition for his place in the team.

Asked about the possibility of Arsenal being caught by Manchester City, Walcott told Sky Sports: ‘Manchester City have been dominating the Premier League for many, many years have had a poor season but could end up ahead of Arsenal.

Arsenal star accused of being ‘too comfortable’

‘Everyone expected whoever finishes above City would win the league. That’s the disappointing thing because there’s been certain situations in the season where there’s been discipline issues or referee decisions and injuries play their part.

‘It just shows there for me that certain players going back to Odegaard are starting to feel too comfortable and not being pushed a bit more. There’s a sense of that in some performances.’

Walcott, did, meanwhile, exonerate Raya who had an uncharacteristically shaky game against the Eagles.

He said: ‘The goalkeeper tonight was a bit indifferent but Raya’s been fantastic many times. There’s periods of time where he won’t be on the ball at all but he’s always been very consistent.

‘Tonight’s it’s been one of those I think he’s the type of character who can put this to bed.

‘You have to if you make a poor error, you just have to forget about it because otherwise you can’t play at the top level, particularly for Arsenal. Raya I’m not as bothered about, I’m just talking about other players in certain positions who are too comfortable and need to be pushed.’

Mikel Arteta angry with Arsenal display

Arteta and his squad now have nearly a week to prepare for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates.

Asked whether a lethargic display against Palace had anything to do with such a seismic game looming on the horizon, the Arsenal manager said: ‘Hopefully not, but we discussed that before Ipswich, and it wasn’t there, and today we still had six days to prepare that match, and I don’t want to use that.

‘Obviously, we have missed a lot of players, a lot of players that haven’t trained at all, they weren’t able to do it today so we were very short. 

‘Credit to Palace, they are very well organised, they are a really good side, they made it difficult for us and everyone else, but today we weren’t at our best.’

On his side developing an unwanted status as draw specialists he added: ‘We haven’t been able to see the games off for many reasons, and the margins have been too small.

‘Sometimes that, sometimes credit to the opposition, it’s true that we played five times with ten men.

‘There are a lot of factors, but obviously it’s something that we’ve done much better in the past, especially when we’ve been ahead in games.

‘Today, without really much happening, especially in the second half, we have to be able to see the game off.’