Pundit Gary Neville has stated on his own podcast that he thinks Arsenal’s defensive shape has actually improved under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners have endured a difficult return from the pandemic-induced break. They travelled to face Manchester City last week, and pretty everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.
Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari were both taken off with injuries, whilst substitute David Luiz endured a horrow show in the 3-0 defeat, as he was culpable for two goals before being sent off.
Then, Arsenal headed to Brighton. They took the lead through Nicolas Pepe, but threw it all away as Lewis Dunk and Neal Maupay snatched all three points for the Seagulls.
Arsenal’s defensive fragility was on show once again, and Gary Neville offered a very honest view on this current Gunners side.
Neville believes that ‘you just can’t trust’ this Arsenal side, and it has been that way for many years now – despite changes in manager.
Neville added that Arteta has actually improved Arsenal’s defensive shape since replacing Unai Emery in December, but Arsenal’s defenders just don’t possess the necessary concentration to play at the highest level.
“You just can’t trust Arsenal, you haven’t been able to for years,” said Neville. “We’ve all said it. Mikel Arteta – we should still say that the shape Arsenal are playing, the shape they have defensively I think is better than it was previously but the individuals within that will let you down.”
“It doesn’t matter how well you coach the shape, if you get exposed one on one or defenders make mistakes – as we saw in that game against Manchester City and against Brighton – then you’re just going to get punished. They just need defenders with better concentration,” he added.
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