Manchester United icon Gary Neville's brutal assessment of Arsenal's summer transfer business has been proven wrong.
Arsenal stretched their winning run to five Premier League games on Sunday after defeating Leicester City 2-0 at the Emirates. Thomas Partey's header gave Mikel Arteta's side an early lead, before a contentious penalty decision following Caglar Soyuncu's handball gave Alexandre Lacazette the chance to make it two from the spot.
Manchester United, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur now trail Mikel Arteta's side, but Arsenal - who have games in hand on each of their top four rivals - are in a strong position to finish in the Champions League places for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
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Much of their on-field success has been down to their summer recruitment strategy. Arsenal spent more than £140million before the season begun in order to bring in Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Benjamin White, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu - each of whom are under the age of 25.
Many doubted that approach as - perhaps with the exception of Odegaard - the club failed to bring in anyone of significant pedigree. However, it's a decision that has worked well, and for the first time in quite a while, the side look entirely united and driven towards one common goal.
One man in particular who's been made to eat his words is Neville. The United legend questioned the club's strategy when Arsenal lost their season opener to Brentford in August.
"I don't know the plan at Arsenal, the recruitment to me has been really poor," he said. "They are poor at it compared to other clubs, they just are.
"They have been poor in the last few years, I don't get the strategy, I don't get the direction of how they are taking the team. I think they have got a really talented young manager and I have said even if he gets the best out of them, I don't think they can achieve the top four.
"He will come under pressure because every manager in a top-six club that is losing matches will come under pressure and you can see tonight in his sort of interview after the game. I never quite know whether there are some problems that are deeper, whether he likes his players and when I worry really when a manager doesn't like some of the dressing room.
"And I can feel that he might not. Knowing Mikel Arteta, who obviously wants really good professionals who are going to do everything right."
Arsenal are now preparing to host title challenging Liverpool on Wednesday night. They're not by any means the favourites to come away with points from the game, but if they do manage to muster a point or three, they'll be all the better for it heading into the business end of the season.
