Gary Neville believes three of Arsenal’s most senior players have let their younger teammates down during a damaging sequence of results that has seen the Gunners surrender the momentum in a seesaw title race.
After blowing two-goal leads against Liverpool and , Mikel Arteta’s side were expected to get back to winning ways against Southampton on Friday night.
, the concession of two more points means are now firm favourites to retain their crown.
The Gunners can wrestle back some initiative should they pull off an unlikely win at the Etihad on Wednesday, but Neville has implored he likes of , who called an impromptu in-game huddle after Theo Walcott put Southampton into a 2-0 lead last night, to show some leadership and composure.
‘For Arsenal the more experienced players needed to step up and be composed,’ Neville wrote on Twitter.
‘In the last three games the more experienced ones haven’t. The younger ones have looked more assured. Zinchenko, Jesus, Partey haven’t been right. They have five days to sort themselves out.
‘The huddle last night a bluff!’
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Neville had already called out Zinchenko for his very public display of emotion in the immediate aftermath of Walcott’s goal against his former club.
The Sky Sports co-commentator said: ‘Shock, absolute shock around this stadium, Zinchenko is forming a huddle, I have to say he would be better getting round his centre-back than forming a huddle, this is extremely strange, extremely strange,’ Neville said.
‘Odegaard is having a word saying what’s going on. It’s all a little odd. If you wanted signs of nerves, signs of wobble, signs of tension, you’re seeing it all in front of your eyes.
‘I talked about punching through midfield, Walcott takes Gabriel wide and cuts back inside, brilliant connection from Southampton, Walcott knows how to score that goal, how many times have we seen it in an Arsenal shirt? This stadium is stunned.
‘Watching that first 20 minutes they were watching the invisibles.’
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