Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville believes Arsenal’s decision not to invest in their squad since the summer has led them to be the masterminds of their own misery this season.
Before tonight’s matches for the Gunners and Liverpool, Mikel Arteta’s side sit 11 points behind the league leaders with a game in hand on the Merseyside club. On Saturday, the North London side had an ideal chance to put serious pressure on Arne Slot’s men and close the gap to five points.
However, a timid performance against West Ham United saw them lose 1-0. Their disappointment was compounded on Sunday when Liverpool cruised to a 2-0 victory over Manchester City and reopened a comfortable advantage at the top.
Tonight, Arsenal face a tough task when they visit Nottingham Forest while Liverpool host Newcastle United at Anfield. Prior to kick off, Neville was asked about the Gunners and in a brutal rant he explained why he had little sympathy for them.
Speaking on his It’s Called Soccer podcast alongside Jamie Carragher, Neville said: “They’ve left themselves woefully short and where I have little sympathy for them is that they’ve had two title races already. This is a team that’s hardened to title races, they’ve been through the mill.
“They knew that when they lost [William] Saliba that first season, that they needed to correct that and buy centre-backs and buy defenders. It’s almost as if they’re always one step behind and my view is that they are getting what they deserve at this moment in time.”
At the start of the season, Neville predicted Arsenal would win the Premier League and end City’s reign of dominance. He did not predict City’s drop off to be so steep nor for Liverpool to become the dominant force in the top flight.
Speaking about his side’s title challenge so far this season, Arteta said: “It’s been incredibly satisfying to work with the players and the coaches and staff to overcome certain situations. “If someone told you at the start of the season that by this time, you have played five times with a red card, each time for over half an hour in these games.
“And you have lost this amount of players, what’s the bet that you are in the middle of the table at least? “And out of the Champions League.
“That’s not the situation, so that tells you the resilience, the ambition the team has, every individual has.”
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