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Gary Neville has questioned whether Arsenal 'really believe they can win the league' after expressing concern over Mikel Arteta's 'basic' approach to their draw against Man City.
The Gunners left it late to grab a share of the spoils against fellow title contenders City on Sunday afternoon, with a dramatic equaliser from Gabriel Martinelli avoiding a damaging defeat on home turf to Pep Guardiola's side.
But the hosts' blunt attack left Neville, on commentary duty for Sky Sports, frustrated. The Man United legend has tipped Arsenal to win the title, but says Arteta's approach to Sunday's game has left him doubting whether he will be proven correct.
'My narrative with Arsenal was thinking, is he going to take the risk? Is he going to send the players the message that "I am going for it, that I believe in you",' he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
'And the team sheet comes through and I see that Trossard, who is a very good player, and Merino are on it. I thought the same at Anfield and I can't help thinking, and I said this probably now for a couple of weeks, I'm not going to look at what a manager says, I'm going to look at what he does, his actions, and his actions at half time were of a manager who I think got it wrong.
'Because if you're making two substitutions at half time, it's not gone to plan and you know that the players you started with are not going to be able to win you the game in all circumstances, which is when they go a goal down.'
Gary Neville has hit out at Arsenal's 'basic' tactical approach in their draw against Man City
The Gunners were blunted by City before a late Martinelli goal saw them share the spoils
Neville added that Arteta's defence-first approach is not good enough for an elite club searching to break their title drought.
'You can't wait to win a league,' he said. 'Winning the league is going to need that edge and that spark and goals scored, and you're going to need to create chances and chance after chance. Arsenal are not creating enough chances in these types of games.
'They're scoring lots of goals from set pieces. Six out of their nine goals before this game have come from set pieces, one of them was a penalty. Now that's great that they're good at set pieces, but it's not good enough.
'They've got Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres, Havertz, Eze, Trossard, Nwaneri, Madueki, Odegaard, how much talent is there? That is a collection of brilliant footballers who should be able to create loads of chances. So what's holding them back? What's stopping them becoming a thrill when they attack?
'he fact of the matter is when we saw that team sheet today, we thought *sighs* I hope the same thing doesn't happen again. We're watching Arsenal in that first half and it was pretty basic football, it was quite comfortable for City.'
Neville then questioned whether Arsenal truly believe they can win the league.
'I've predicted Arsenal will win the league... but does the manager and the players really believe, number one, that they can win the league? Do they really believe?
'The second bit is do they know how to win a league? Does the manager know how to win a league? Does he know how to get the players over the line throughout the season?
Neville bemoaned Arteta's safety-first approach despite Arsenal boasting attacking options
He pinpointed the selections of Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino as indicators of Arteta's cautious approach, asking whether Arsenal 'really believe they can win the title'
'I was very lucky when I went into the team at Manchester United that they'd broken that duck and there were senior players who knew how to get over the line and there was a manager who'd won up in Scotland and he'd won obviously down in England. So I was very fortunate to be in a position surrounded by knowledge and experience and expertise on winning trophies.
'But they haven't got that in this team and I just wonder you can't look back and wish you could have done more. And he must be looking back at this game, Mikel Arteta, and reviewing it and thinking well, should I have started with Eze off the front? Should I have started with Martinelli?
'It could have been more attacking that it was and it wasn't. I've got a lot of love for them and I like them and they're a good side and I like watching them play, but they've got to take the handbrake off.'
Neville's comments echoed the sentiment shared by fellow pundit Jamie Carragher, who also implored Arteta to let his attackers flourish.
‘I just think they wasted 45 minutes,’ Carragher said. ‘I think Arsenal are a brilliant team, for me the best squad in the Premier League, and I thought they would come here and win like 2-0 against Man City.
'Mikel Arteta has got a team who are that close to being really, really special in winning a Premier League and maybe a Champions League, I think they are that good.
Arsenal have finished second in the league in three successive seasons and are looking to break their title drought
'But time after time when it comes to these big games he picks a team that feels like he’s thinking more about the opposition. That does not mean you can’t win the league, Jose Mourinho has won the Premier League three times and he was like that.
'For me that was a waste of 45 minutes and the reason I’m saying that is because I played for managers like that at Liverpool and we were really close, we were a top team but we never won the Premier League. I felt at times under Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez that at times we had the handbrake on.
'That is what Mikel Arteta is doing. I won’t change my mind, Liverpool were there for the taking in the second half at Anfield, Man City were there for the taking at the start of this game and he has allowed them to come into the game.
'It is a reoccurring pattern season after season. If you are Arteta or an Arsenal supporter, you have to hope that does not cost you at the end of the season.'
