The Chalkboard is Antonio Merchan’s opinion segment on Merchan en Directo.

There’s an uncomfortable truth that has been hanging over La Rosaleda for weeks and that no one at the club seems willing to say out loud: Malaga CF wins and loses matches in the two boxes. Not in midfield. Not in the press. In the boxes. That simple and that brutal.

When the team is able to take advantage of the chances it creates, Malaga is a different side, capable of beating anyone in the division. But when it fails in finishing or gives away goals through avoidable defensive errors, the blue and whites look like a team from another league.

Pellicer knows it. The players know it. The fans have been suffering through it all season. The problem isn’t the system, or the budget, or even the external noise surrounding the club. The problem is concentration and precision in the final meters.

And that isn’t solved with press conferences or statements. It’s solved by training, believing and, above all, having the courage to look at the opposition goal without hesitation. Malaga has the tools. What it sometimes lacks is conviction.