While watching Arsenal get bullied by Manchester City in their 4-1 defeat, Gary Neville has hinted that the title pressure got to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
The Sky pundit claimed that the pair were the ‘most ineffective’ they have been throughout the season against Pep Guardiola’s side.
While Gary Neville did describe both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli as ‘leaders’ for Arsenal, he suggested that the weight of expectation against Manchester City in a do-or-die clash.
Neville suggests title expectations got to Arsenal duo Saka & Martinelli
As Mikel Arteta and Co. have undergone shock draws and a defeat to City in the last few weeks, there have been claims that they ‘bottled’ their stranglehold over the league title.
While some have argued that the issues have been tactical and to even suggest that is harsh, the others have pinpointed that the evidence on show has been inarguable.
Gary Neville, while recounting his own experienced denied the ‘bottling’ claims against Arsenal in their title race against Manchester City but did suggest that the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were feeling the heat.
“We [Manchester United during the 1997/1998 season] ended up in that last part of the season just falling over. And I remember in those moments thinking…the sheer weight of expectation and the sheer feeling that you’re [Arsenal] coming foraging on our shoulder, you feel it”, he said on the Overlap YouTube channel.
“I wouldn’t say I bottled it but your legs start to get heavy. Like Saka and Martinelli, the other night, I was looking at them; they do have to get off the pitch. And he [Mikel Arteta] took them off, their legs had gone.”
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As Gary Neville implied, to sneer at a young core that Arsenal possess including starlets like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli showing their inexperience up against Manchester City would be harsh.
What the Gunners have achieved this season to even challenge City is remarkable and it deserves a lot of praise.
But simultaneously, it is also fair to acknowledge that considering Arteta’s side dropped points from winning positions against Liverpool and West Ham, and had to somehow secure a draw against Southampton, they did throw away their lead.
The fixtures were winnable and the London-based side crumbled due to their inexperience in such situations even before the title decider, which is far from being a cardinal sin.
