First defeat, and it hurts
Four wins from four. Then came the Amex.
Arsenal were beaten 3-0 at Brighton this weekend. Their first defeat of the season, and a rough one. Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres did the damage against a London side that looked miles off it.
Gary Neville wasn’t in the mood to dress it up with tactical excuses. On his Sky Sports podcast, the former defender pointed straight at mentality. “It is so rare to see them that open and that disjointed,” he said.
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The trap was there for anyone paying attention
Neville kept coming back to one detail. Brighton had turned Manchester United over at Old Trafford a few days earlier, and they did it after going two goals down.
“I watched Brighton at Old Trafford on Wednesday night and they absolutely humiliated Manchester United, who were much better and much smarter,” the pundit added.
He then brought up what used to get said in his own dressing room. “We were very experienced and we had taken a few hits. On certain pitches, we would say to each other: if you’re not fully at it today, these lot will eat you alive.”
His verdict was blunt. “Arsenal probably didn’t do enough of that before the game. They didn’t sort out the little details they usually do.”
Two points. That is the gap to Brighton now
Neville did cut Arsenal some slack. “Arsenal have been so reliable and so consistent over the last 12 to 18 months that they are entitled to a day like this. But when you’re a big club, you have to get back on the bike quickly.”
The bigger point sits elsewhere, though. The former Manchester United man rates the Seagulls, who now sit only two points behind Arsenal.
“There is an opportunity for Brighton to surprise everybody and go after the top four or five,” he said. His reasoning is straightforward. United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa are all off the pace, and Chelsea still have questions to answer.
“Those teams are rock solid. Every player knows where the ball is going next. I look at some of the big teams and they have no idea.”
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