Gary Neville has said on his podcast that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has written off his side’s chances of finishing in the top four of the Premier League table this season.
The former Manchester United defender, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, believes that Arteta’s team selection for the games against Benfica and Manchester City show that he is taking the Europa League more seriously, and he himself does not believe that they can finish in the top four.
The Gunners played out a 1-1 draw with Benfica away from home in the first round of the Europa League Round of 32 last Thursday evening.
On Sunday evening, Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat to City at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.
Neville said on his podcast: “The one thing I would say is, though, that he could have made the five or six changes against Benfica and prioritised the game against Manchester City, and not doing that sends the message to your players what’s the most important or what’s the one that he feels is going to bring the club the greatest success this season, which tells you that he has written off his chance of getting into what would be the top four, which is probably right because I don’t think Arsenal will get there.”
Is Gary Neville right?
Arteta played a very strong team against Benfica, just as he should have, and he did make a few changes to the side that started against City.
However, some of those changes were needed. Kieran Tierney needs to get minutes to get back to his best after injury, while Nicolas Pepe has been doing well in recent games and deserved a spot in the team.
Winning against City is not easy and the match was a free hit, and it made sense for Arteta to prioritise the game against Benfica. After all, winning the Europa League would see Arsenal play in the Champions League next season.
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