Gary Neville slams Mikel Arteta as he makes surprise Arsenal claim
Gary Neville has claimed that Arsenal have taken a step back from last season under Mikel Arteta. He believes that the UEFA Champions League results will be key for the season-end review but the pundit is not impressed with the season.
Neville said on NBC Sports that Arsenal have not managed to take the next step in the Premier League. He added that Arteta has not built the squad well and that has cost them big time in their hunt for the league title. He said via TBR Football:
“That will depend wholly now on the Champions League – if they win the Champions League then all will be forgiven. But otherwise their league performances have been a big let down, I think that if Manchester City weren’t going to win the league, which they’ve done in the last four seasons, Arsenal had to be the team that were there waiting. They’re not, they’re not even on the shoulder of Liverpool to put pressure on them in these last few weeks – Liverpool are going to win it at a canter."
“I think that’s a big disappointment and where Arsenal have been in the last couple of seasons you felt as thought they were a team growing in Premier League title-races and getting better. So what’s happened this season I think they’ve gone backwards, they’ve gone backwards I think from the start of the season in terms of their recruitment – they never covered themselves for their likely injury to Havertz who was their only centre-forward."
“He didn’t really fancy [Gabriel] Jesus as a centre-forward. Odegaard is another big drop-off for them, I think they’ve lost Edu off the pitch, obviously their CEO as well, obviously now he’s going to Tottenham. The Champions League is a huge opportunity for them but the league is your bread and butter and I think Mikel Arteta was building a squad to win the Premier League title and this was the season that he really should have been there and been close with Liverpool and he’s not. It’s a let down.”
Arsenal are second in the Premier League table with 63 points from their 32 matches this season. They can lose any chance of winning the title in gameweek 33 if they lose to Ipswich Town and Liverpool win their match against Leicester City.
Arsenal lead Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League
Mikel Arteta and his players have no time to think about the Premier League this week as they take on Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. They travel to Spain to face the defending champions on April 16 and are ahead in the tie.
Declan Rice scored a brace of freekicks at the Emirates last week, and Mikel Merino made it 3-0 to give the Gunners a stunning lead in the first leg. They need to avoid a defeat by 3+ goals to make it to the semifinal.
Should they get to the semifinal, they are likely to face Paris Saint-Germain, who are 3-1 up against Aston Villa. The Gunners are out of the FA Cup and failed to win the Carabao Cup as well this season.
