‘They will cause Arsenal the title believe it or not’: Gary Neville ‘worried’ that ‘erratic’ Arsenal duo will cost Gunners the title this season if something is not done quick about it
Gary Neville does not believe ‘erratic’ duo Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah are clinical enough to get Arsenal over the line in a title race and feels the Gunners need to bring in another goalscorer.
The north Londoners ended their long wait for a win over title rivals Manchester City courtesy of an 86th-minute deflected strike from Gabriel Martinelli, with both Jesus and Nketiah posing little threat – the latter was subbed off despite Arsenal chasing a goal.
Despite their clear endeavour and work rate, Neville feels both players lack the cutting edge required and believes their lack of goalscoring instinct could ultimately cost Arsenal the title this season.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, Neville explained: ‘There’s one thing about Arsenal, I’ve watched Arsenal in big games this season – against Tottenham and against City – and look, they’ve both been difficult games.
Tottenham have been in good form and obviously City are City and they don’t give a lot away. But Nketiah and Jesus… there’s talk this morning of Ivan Toney being linked with Arsenal in January.
‘There’s no doubt Nketiah and Jesus they work their absolute socks off, but in quality terms I just found in those two matches, is that going to be enough to win Arsenal the league?
‘That’s my only doubt is actually a centre-forward, because if they’d had a centre-forward – like if they had a Haaland, if they had a Kane – I’d be saying, “It’s Arsenal I think if they can keep Saliba and Gabriel and Rice fit”.
‘But, honestly, I worry about Nketiah and Jesus. They’re erratic.’
He added: ‘They’re not wired, are they, to score goals naturally. Instinctively they don’t make the runs that you see goalscorers make.
‘They hold back, they’re always looking for the pull-back, they’re never getting across players.
‘I just look at Jesus, he is quite erratic in front of goal. The work ethic of both of them is brilliant, I just question, at that level, can they win the league without another striker?’
Fellow pundit Ian Wright begrudgingly agreed with Neville’s assessment, saying: ‘You can’t question the endeavour of both of these players, Eddie and Jesus, but in the moments I think you look back at the Tottenham game, with the Jesus miss.
‘For a player of his level, his calibre, to get into that position at 1-0 up, you have to [score]. Those chances have to be buried. And I believe for what Arsenal are trying to do, the margins are so small now, you cannot afford to be missing chances like that and not win those games.
‘And what I’m seeing with Eddie, he’s working his socks off, no chances really made for him. The work off the ball, fantastic, same with Jesus.’
