Gary Neville: Arsenal Can Still Bottle Top Four Status

Gary Neville is refusing to rule out an Arsenal implosion…

Ex-Valencia head coach Gary Neville is refusing to admit defeat in his pre-season predictions and claims Arsenal can still “bottle” their top-four status, he said on The Overlap.

Neville predicted that we wouldn’t make the Champions League this season, anticipating Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool to finish above us.

However, after our blistering start to the season seeing us top the Premier League with 34 points – two ahead of champions Manchester City – Neville is refusing to soften his stance.

The former Man United right-back is stuck on the events at the end of last season and feels that our ‘collapse’ in the top-four race to Spurs was due to a psychological deficiency.

With Arteta adding the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, William Saliba and Fabio Vieira to the squad and producing sensational results, it’s a far cry from what the Spaniard finished the last term with.

“We have 25 matches left in the season, with the massive disruption of the World Cup, but I do see Arsenal getting in the top four this season,” Neville, who would later contradict himself, said.

“If Arsenal lose a couple games and the teams below you win those games, the pressure now ramps up and that is when we’ll find out if Arsenal can handle the pressure. The big moment will come in February and March where we will see what Arsenal are made of.

“Arsenal could still bottle it at a certain point, they could!

“The only thing Arsenal have proven in the last few years is that they crumble at the end of the season, until I see that they don’t, I’ll still have that doubt. Why would I not?”

Neville’s stance is a childish one and actually contradicts his entire profession. He’s paid to make informed opinions about what may happen based on the facts in front of him.

Instead, the potential politician is claiming he won’t accept Arsenal’s top-four credentials until they actually achieve them.