Gary Neville outlines where Arsenal’s title bid has failed – and pinpoints set-piece coach

Saturday’s defeat against West Ham left Arsenal’s faint title hopes fade even further, with Gary Neville arguing a growing injury list isn’t the only factor in their struggles

Arsenal’s reliance on set pieces has been a factor in their title chances slipping away, according to pundit Gary Neville.

The Gunners’ set piece coach Nicolas Jover has come in for plenty of praise this season after turning Mikel Arteta’s side into a real threat from set pieces. Neville is worried this has come at the extent of wider attacking freedom, though.

Arsenal lost to West Ham on Saturday, their first home league defeat of the season. The reverse left them eight points adrift of Liverpool, who subsequently extended their advantage to 11 with victory at Manchester City on Sunday.

Arteta has been contending with a serious injury list, with four members of his forward line currently sidelined. Even bearing in mind those absentees, though, Neville believes the Gunners have been their own worst enemies.

“Questions will start to be asked, because a little bit like that Leicester season [2015/16], where a couple of those teams didn’t win it… it’s that type of season where you think it was up for grabs,” Neville said on Sky Sports. After praising Liverpool boss Arne Slot for his immediate impact, the former Manchester United captain turned his attentions to Arsenal.

“For Arsenal, they’ve become quite rigid, they’ve become quite turgid at times to watch. This obsession with set-pieces, which was almost overtaking their whole game, exacerbated by this presence of the set-piece coach on the touchline which puts more focus on set-pieces. It’s like… no. I feel like the freedom’s gone a little bit from them.

“I know that they’ve lost [Bukayo] Saka, and I know that they’ve lost [Gabriel] Jesus, and I know they’ve lost [Kai] Havertz, which are big blows. I mean, let’s be clear, that is a big problem for Arsenal. But I still think you’ve got to do that job yesterday against West Ham at home.”

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Arsenal are back in action against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, with Nuno’s side after a response of their own after losing 4-3 at Newcastle on Sunday. Reflecting on the defeat to West Ham, Gunners captain Martin Odegaard suggested the North Londoners simply weren’t at their best both before and after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card.

“We tried even with 10 men, we put a lot of pressure on them, but I think we lacked a bit of efficiency in the final third, the final pass, the final cross and we should have been sharper and better around the box,” Odegaard said. “I think that’s what we missed today and also, we let them run a bit too easily a few times, so it’s a big blow and disappointing. We move on and we have to strike back in the next one straight away.

“It’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves, we have to keep going. There are still many games to be played, and we have to keep going. The main thing now is to win the next one and work from there.”

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