Where have Arsenal’s ‘leaders’ gone now the pressure is on?
The Gunners most critiical pundit, Gary Neville, has identified four senior players at Arsenal who he believes are responsible for the team’s recent dip in form. The Gunners had a promising start to the Premier League season, but their momentum has significantly slowed down in recent weeks, allowing Manchester City to catch up in the title race.
The team surrendered a two-goal lead at Anfield and drew with relegation-threatened teams West Ham and Southampton, which only weakened their grip at the top of the league. Their defeat to Manchester City further paved the way for the Cityzens to be left in the driving seat to retain their title.
Neville spoke on The Overlap, saying that the Gunners that the team’s poor run of form at such a decisive point in the season is due to the failures of senior players and a lack of leadership.
He identified that senior talents are not stepping up and taking responsibility during games. He highlighted that Arsenal’s issues stem from a lack of leadership on and off the pitch, and that the team’s struggles are not solely the manager’s fault. Neville emphasized that for Arsenal to remain competitive in the Premier League, their senior players need to start performing at a higher level and take accountability for the team’s results.
‘I look at Martin Odegaard, fantastic professional. Oleksandr Zinchenko, great professional. But when you actually get to the highest pressurised moments in the biggest matches in the crux of the season, are they leaders then?
‘Arsenal’s senior players, Partey, Zinchenko, Odegaard, in the most difficult period – when those younger players like Saka and Martinelli needed that guidance, Jesus needed telling to stop running around and just stand up front and be really disciplined in how you play – they didn’t impact the rest of their teammates on the pitch, I don’t believe.
‘In fact, they contributed to the difficulties they were having in the matches.
‘Xhaka at Anfield [referring to the incident with Trent Alexander-Arnold], Partey’s performances in the last few games, I think Zinchenko gave a goal away in one game as well – the Liverpool game and maybe West Ham as well – and Odegaard had probably his most difficult game as well against Manchester City.
‘And then if you think of the huddle that Zinchenko did [against Southampton] and then Odegaard came over and said, “Break up”.
‘So those four players that are the leaders in that team have not been able – at the moment those younger players needed it – to really pull them together and keep them calm and composed. That to me has been apparent these last few weeks.’
It is very hard to disagree with Neville’s assessment, as Xhaka’s hot headedness has returned in the latest pressure games, Zinchenko’s and Partey’s form seems to have taken a dive, while Odegaard’s influence has reduced drastically on the field of play.
These player are supposed to be the leaders, and it is beginning to look like they have crumbled as the pressure on each game has increased. Is there something going wrong behind the scenes, or are they smply not the leaders we expected them to be?
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