Gary Neville believes there has been several factors behind Arsenal's title collapse after they were battered 3-0 by Brighton on Sunday.
Julio Enciso, Denis Undav and Pervis Estupinan struck for the Seagulls on a memorable afternoon at Emirates Stadium. It was a defeat that put Manchester City on the brink of winning their third consecutive Premier League and Pep Guardiola’s side need one victory from their three remaining matches to secure the title.
Arsenal, who were at the one point cruising at the top, have now picked up just nine points from a possible 21 and have won just two of their last seven fixtures. The Gunners will now have to settle for second place, unless City completely crumble in their last three matches against Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford.
Speaking on Monday, Gary Neville took to social media to assess Arsenal’s recent downturn in form and he picked out seven mistakes which have led to the Gunners’ collapse. The first one he spoke about was the loss of form since drawing 2-2 at Liverpool in early April.
Arsenal have since drawn against West Ham and Southampton, before falling to a damaging 4-1 defeat at Man City. Recent victories over Chelsea and Newcastle haven’t been able to paper over the cracks after City secured their 10th successive Premier League win against Everton, coming out 3-0 victors.
The second he said was giving up leads. This occurred in the first two matches of that seven-game run, where they gave away two-nil advantages to draw 2-2 at both Liverpool and West Ham.
Neville then moved on to the Gunners’ physical condition and highlighted the energy and legs going at the most crucial time. Arsenal have endured a mentally draining season despite not playing as many games as Man City and it is something most of the players are not used to.
And Arteta’s side have not been able to replicate that level of performance, both energetically and quality-wise compared to earlier in the campaign. This was a point in Neville’s next reason as he admitted Arsenal are making unforced errors not seen earlier in the season. Jakub Kiwior was at fault for the Gunners’ first goal against Brighton, while Leandro Trossard and Aaron Ramsdale were culpable for the second and third.
The average age of the Arsenal squad is young compared to some of the other Premier League teams and Neville admitted those players have become tense in recent weeks due to the pressure they have been under. Arsenal were fighting for their first title since 2004.
Lastly, Neville touched on Arsenal losing their freedom of expression and others showing too much emotion when calmness is needed in the big pressure moments. After finishing fifth last season, second-place is no mean feat for the Gunners but they will be bitterly disappointed they haven’t been able to win the title.
Neville’s Twitter post read: "Arsenal have had a great season but when the going got tough they struggled. It seems now the narrative is that it’s City’s strength, injuries and a tough run in is the cause. These are normal factors that need pricing into a title race. Arsenal have dropped 12 pts in 7 games! Won 9pts from a possible 21.
"All the characteristics of it being too much have appeared. Loss of form, giving up leads, energy and legs going, making unforced errors not seen earlier in the season, young players becoming tense and losing their freedom of expression and others showing too much emotion when calmness is needed. I understand why we want to use less emotive language in 2023.
"However in a high performance environment and at elite level we must still recognise when pressure has taken its toll. That league table below was only 7 games and 5 weeks ago. I hope these Arsenal players are there again one day(if it’s not United) and can see it through."
