Gary Neville has charged hard against the Arsenal forwards, whom he has described as “little mafia”. The English coach also doubts that veteran players will continue to be used by Mikel Arteta. The Spanish coach lined up an attacking trident made up of Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe for last Saturday's match against Liverpool. Despite having that offensive arsenal, the London club only fired once on goal. That tiny baggage was called a “joke” by Gary Neville.
The former Manchester United and England defender was scathing in his analysis of Arteta's squad, questioning the performance that veteran players are showing after Arteta's incident with Aubameyang. The Arsenal captain was ruled out for the North London derby after arriving late. Arteta was forceful at first, but later changed his position. “I have to say that there are some forwards who look like a little mafia. It seemed like a small group of players who weren't comfortable. Like there's a disconnect between them and the coach. “Neville said on Monday Night Football. He continued: “The effort of those six forwards against Liverpool was a joke. The lack of energy. I think Mikel Artetase was surprised by the lack of attitude.”
Gary Neville highlighted Arsenal's lack of intensity on Saturday: “Liverpool got the ball back over and over again. It was a walk in the park. They never laid a finger on them. A really bad day. It was a dark moment. A moment of controversy. I think Mikel Arteta will have left that game thinking 'it's me or them'. I called the older players lions fed. Arsenal have a big problem with some of those players. “