Disparaging comments Gary Neville made about Arsenal back in 2021 have now resurfaced to haunt the former Manchester United man.
Gary Neville has been critical of Arsenal in the past.
Whilst the Gunners are now genuine Premier League title contenders, the Manchester United icon could not always envisage them reaching this point.
Undeniably, Mikel Arteta has transformed the club since he was appointed in December 2019. However, it has not been a smooth rise of positive progression since then. The Spanish coach had to endure some difficult times at the helm.
In his first couple of seasons in charge, Arsenal’s form remained indifferent and they missed out on Champions League qualification. There were certainly some transfer market missteps too, with the likes of Willian and Pablo Mari failing to impress following their arrivals in north London. Sporting director Edu has subsequently explained why Arsenal kept faith in Arteta throughout this period.
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However, for some time now, there has been an evident plan in place, even if Neville could not see it. The Gunners have focused on youth, both when it comes to acquisitions and placing their faith in homegrown talents such as Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
The likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, Martin Odegaard, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, and Jakub Kiwior, amongst others, were all still in the relatively early stages of their senior careers when they were first brought to the club. All have gone on to play important roles for the Gunners since then.
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What Gary Neville said about Arsenal back in 2021
However, back in 2021, Neville failed to recognise the direction that Arsenal were heading in. In a video published by Football Daily, now shared again on X, the pundit said at that time, “I don’t know the plan at Arsenal. The recruitment, to me, has been really poor…I don’t get the strategy, I don’t get the direction of how they’re taking the team.”
The plan was there, though, plain as day, and has now come to fruition. For the second season in succession, Arsenal are well-placed in a Premier League title race heading into the run-in. In fact, back at the start of this campaign, Neville tipped Arsenal to be crowned champions.
These comments don’t reflect well upon the former England full-back, and he may well feel embarrassed by them now. However, he was far from being the only person to underestimate the progress Arsenal would make under Arteta. Few could have predicted that they would have come so far so quickly.