Gary Neville felt Mikel Arteta had hit his ceiling two years ago (Image: The Overlap)
By transforming Arsenal from a team that was struggling to place in the top four of the Premier League to a team that is challenging for the championship, Mikel Arteta has disproved Gary Neville.
Gary Neville, who proposed Mikel Arteta’s resignation as manager two years ago, feels that Arsenal is poised to make history in their upcoming match against Manchester City.
On Sunday afternoon, the Gunners head to the Etihad Stadium in the hopes of making a big statement and winning their first Premier League title in 20 years. Leading the league by one point over City and leading Liverpool on goal differential, Arteta’s team is unbeaten.
With ten games remaining, their matchup with City will be crucial in determining the winner of the championship. Throughout the past few years, Arteta has shown that he is among the greatest young managers in the world, going head-to-head with both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.
However, there were questions about his abilities at the end of the 2021–2022 season, when Arsenal and Tottenham were vying for fourth place. Neville believed the Spaniard had reached his peak in his role as an Arsenal coach and might want to pursue a different opportunity.
“There is still a long way to go, even if Mikel Arteta finishes fourth this year, which I believe is 50-50. In certain aspects, fourth place is as good as it gets for him. Where can Pep, Klopp, Chelsea, United go? In March 2022, Neville stated on the Overlap, “They’re not going to compete.”
“Coach Mikel Arteta is incredibly talented. I adore seeing a team perform to its full potential with those players. I truly understand his desire to play; in fact, we all can. But when he gets to the fourth, if he’s really tough about it, he’ll probably say something like, “I’m going to do my next job now; that’s the best I can do.” It sounds absurd.
How circumstances have evolved. Arsenal lost to Spurs and Newcastle in the final games to finish outside of the top four in 2022–2022. That was a major setback to their development at the time, but it hasn’t hindered them over time.
Mikel Arteta has proven Gary Neville wrong over the past few seasons ( Image: Getty Images)
Despite faltering in the latter months of the season and finishing behind City the previous year, they have recovered to contend once more in 2023–2024. Neville now believes that if they are to create history, they must defeat City on Sunday.
“The run-in is real and is currently taking place; this is just the beginning. It’s really big on Sunday. It’s a game of crossroads,” he declared this week. “These games, in my opinion, have the power to symbolise and shape history. If you win this league and on Sunday, you will look back and see Arsenal as the pivotal moment. You can look back on all of these games for more than 15, 20, or even more years. That match is currently available.
“In my opinion, it’s a defining game for that group of players and that manager,” he continued. As a young manager, he needs to prove to Klopp and Guardiola that he can handle these big moments and live in that arena. It’s my belief that Arsenal must triumph over City on Sunday, as one cannot assume that they will play flawlessly.
