Gary Neville was particularly unimpressed with one Arsenal performance following today’s troubling defeat to Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta once again came unstuck against the man he replaced, Unai Emery, who just completed a league double against the Gunners.
Arsenal started the game brilliantly, looking like they were in the mood to make the most of Liverpool’s earlier slip up, putting themselves back at the top of the table.
However, 90 minutes later and the title-race is now out of Arsenal’s hands, and they will now be relying on Man City to slip up.
And in truth, Aston Villa were worth every bit of their 2-0 win today, a side who seem to now relish this fixture.
Ollie Watkins was everything Gabriel Jesus wasn’t, clinical and immaculate with his work.
And it was hard to find a performance that matched that of their counterparts in any position for Arsenal, with Martin Odegaard even being subbed when chasing the game.
That being said, it was Gabriel Jesus’ Arsenal performance that particularly frustrated Gary Neville today.
Gary Neville thought Gabriel Jesus was really sloppy for Arsenal vs Villa today
Neville was watching the game for Sky Sports and was disappointed with Jesus’ play throughout the first half.
The pundit felt the £45m-Brazilian should have done better with a headed chance at the far post early on, and then voiced his frustration when he then later misplaced a straight forward pass.
Speaking towards the end of the first half, Neville said: “He’s been so scruffy in the final part of his game Gabriel Jesus, during the first half.
“He’s still shaking his head and wondering how he didn’t make that pass. He hustles and harasses but his imperfection is the problem at the moment.”
Of course, today was a real opportunity for Jesus to claim his role back as Arsenal’s starting striker.
And if this was an audition to start as Arsenal’s number nine against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, then fans can expect to see Kai Havertz as a false nine once again.
Jesus was busy and clever at times, but then just erratic when it came to the final product.
He looked like a player who was desperate to impress.
The season isn’t over for Arsenal, far from it. But today does represent a bitter-blow in the title-race.
However, Mikel Arteta will just need to use this frustration as fuel for mid-week.
All that being said, Paul Merson believes that Arsenal and Liverpool do actually have the same ‘problem’ right now.
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