‘He’s struggling in the games’ – Neville singles out Arsenal star for constant poor performances

Mikel Arteta might be breathing a massive sigh of relief today, but the pundits certainly aren’t letting him off the hook.

Arsenal managed to scrape a gritty 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, securing three absolutely crucial points to bump themselves back to the top of the Premier League table.

Eberechi Eze was the early hero, curling in a beautiful strike from the edge of the box following a clever short corner routine.

But while the fans were busy celebrating a desperately needed return to winning ways, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was busy analysing a glaring issue in the middle of the park.

Gary Neville is unhappy with the performances of Zubimendi

He pointed out the poor performances of midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who joined the club in the summer transfer window.

‘I thought at the start of the season that Zubimendi was a great signing,’ Neville told The Gary Neville Podcast after the game.

‘He’s been a good player for Arsenal, but right now I was expecting that this would be where Zubimendi would be the player.

‘Who’s going to be the difference player? I thought (Viktor) Gyokeres would get the goals for them in these big moments and get to 2-0. His lack of quality at the end was poor on that counter attack. He’s got to do better than that.

‘But you think of what (Andrea) Pirlo is, or (Paul) Scholes or Rodri, Bernardo Silva – the player who can dictate play in a game like this, get Arsenal on the ball, organise and get them with authority and he’s not demonstrating that. He’s struggling in the games and he has done for a few weeks now.’

Neville is spot on with his assessment of the Arsenal star

Neville hit the nail firmly on the head. When Arsenal shelled out £60m for the Spanish maestro, the expectation was that he would be the ultimate anchor to dictate the tempo during these chaotic, high-pressure title run-ins.

Instead, he has looked completely off the pace for weeks, lacking that authoritative spark that Arsenal so desperately crave when the going gets tough.

Getting three points on the board against a stubbornly physical Newcastle side is exactly what Arsenal needed to stop the rot, but the performance raised just as many questions as it answered.

If the Gunners are going to hold off Pep Guardiola’s relentless Manchester City machine and finally conquer Europe, they need their big-money signings to step up and lead from the front.

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