Manchester United legend Gary Neville has highlighted how Oleksandr Zinchenko’s behaviour might have played a role in Arsenal’s unexpected title collapse. The Gunners looked destined to secure the title after leading its race for more than 200 days.
No team in the Premier League history had managed to stay on top of the points table for so long. However, a disastrous loss of form in April saw their title dream go up in smoke. The Gunners have managed to win just two of their last seven games. They began April by registering three draws in a row against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.
It was followed by a thumping 1-4 defeat against title opponents Manchester City before Mikel Arteta’s men registered impressive wins over Chelsea and Newcastle United to keep their title hopes alive. However, a crushing 0-3 loss against Brighton at home has all but ended their title hopes.
Gary Neville on Arsenal’s title collapse:
Manchester City now lead Arsenal by 4 points and have a game in hand. A win against Chelsea this week will be enough for City to secure the Premier League title. And the title collapse has put Gary Neville in the limelight with several fans recalling his prediction about Arsenal’s title challenge.
At a time when Arsenal were just blowing teams away, Neville had predicted that the London club would fail to win the title. And as Arsenal’s title challenge is all but over, the Manchester United legend has pointed out one of the reasons behind it. Neville recalled how Zinchenko was celebrating the win over Bournemouth one hour after the match was over.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: “I always doubted whether this Arsenal team could, just looking at some of the things that were happening. The over-celebrations against Aston Villa, I look at little things – that might seem a little bit harsh.
“Zinchenko after the game against Bournemouth I think it was, celebrating with the fans an hour after the game and screaming – you want your leaders in the team who’ve been there before to spread composure around the dressing room to calm everybody down, you don’t want them to lift the anxiety and lift the emotion.
“I’ve said about being cold in a title run in, and I just think there’s an element of emotion. Xhaka at Anfield, Partey losing his form in games and getting caught on the ball in difficult moments, and then from that moment it’s become very tough for them. Mentally it’s caused them a big issue in the last few weeks,” he added.