Gary Neville hits out at Arsenal ‘obsession’ after Liverpool extend lead at top
Gary Neville took aim at Arsenal’s apparent set-piece ‘obsession’ after Liverpool beat Manchester City to move 11 points clear of the Gunners at the top of the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta’s men fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday to fall further behind in the title race, with Jarrod Bowen heading home the only goal of the game in front of a shellshocked Emirates crowd.
Twenty four hours later, Liverpool tightened their grip on top spot with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over champions City.
Mohamed Salah’s magnificent run of form continued at the Etihad, with the Egyptian opening the scoring before assisting Dominik Szoboszlai for the visitors’ second in the 37th minute at the Etihad.
Curtis Jones thought he had found a third for the Reds midway through the second period but the video assistant referee ruled that the midfielder was in an offside position and the goal was disallowed.
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle, Neville showered Liverpool boss Arne Slot with praise and suggested ‘questions will start to be asked’ of Arteta’s injury-hit Arsenal for falling short once again.
And not for the first time, the legendary ex-Manchester United and England right-back criticised the north London outfit for being overly dependent on set-pieces across their campaign.
Neville thinks Arsenal are overly ‘obsessed’ with set-pieces
‘Questions will start to be asked because, a little bit like that Leicester season when a couple of the other teams didn’t win it and you start to ask questions of those teams, “Hang on a minute, Leicester went and won it”, and it’s that type of season where you think it was up for grabs,’ Neville said.
‘Arne Slot has come in, new manager, Jurgen Klopp has left… I felt that there would be a drop-off at Liverpool, just the Klopp impact and the effect but he’s been such a cool customer, Arne Slot, from day one.
‘He’s had complete control and the way he’s adapted this team, I don’t think it’s a mirror of Klopp at all, it’s very different. I like the way they play in different styles in halves, let alone from game to game.
‘For Arsenal, they’ve become quite rigid, they’ve become quite turgid at times to watch. This obsession with set-pieces, it was almost overtaking the whole game, exacerbated by the presence of the set-piece coach on the touchline.
‘That puts more focus on the set-pieces and I feel like the freedom has gone a little bit from them.
‘I know they’ve lost [Bukayo] Saka, [Gabriel] Jesus and [Kai] Havertz which are big blows, let’s be clear, that is a big problem for Arsenal, but I still think you have to do that job at home to West Ham.’
Liverpool strolled to a 2-0 win at City to go 11 points clear at the top (Picture: Getty)
Micah Richards claimed Arsenal bosses will likely be ‘kicking themselves’ for failing to sign a top striker in January and Neville agreed that the club’s quiet transfer window had left them desperately short.
‘They didn’t want to do business in the January transfer window. They thought maybe there wasn’t quite the value in the market or they couldn’t get the player who would come in and impact them. But they have left themselves short, there’s no doubt about that,’ he added.
‘They have fallen short and even without top players, they still had to do that job yesterday.
‘I think over the last two seasons they’ve gone very close and I’ve got a lot of admiration for them.
Slot has enjoyed a magnificent debut season in charge of Liverpool
‘This season is more of a problem for them than the last two because when City weren’t going to be there, the team that had to be there were Arsenal, in my mind, because of the growth and how close they were getting.
‘It’s not going to be them it looks like and that’s the big shock and surprise and that’s what will hit hardest in that Arsenal boardroom, Mikel Arteta, and with the dressing room and the players because they’re desperate to win a title.
‘They were inching nearer so it’s a blow and yesterday… look, it can happen. But Liverpool have dropped points in these last eight games, Liverpool have drawn two in the last three and four in the last eight.
‘Arsenal have had a chance to get back closer, they could have gone within five points yesterday so it’s a big blow, a really big blow.’
The Gunners, who have a game in hand over Liverpool, will look to return to winning ways away to third-placed Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Wednesday night.
Leaders Liverpool, meanwhile, entertain Newcastle for what promises to be an intriguing contest on Merseyside.