Gary Neville insists Arsenal have a golden opportunity to win the Premier League for the first time in 19 years – but the club must back Mikel Arteta this month if they are to do so.
The Gunners were held to a goalless draw by Champions League-chasing Newcastle on Tuesday night, which saw Arteta make just one substitution – bringing Takehiro Tomiyasu on for Ben White – in a game that saw his side manage just four shots on goal.
With no marquee names to call upon off the bench, Neville claimed the league leaders had ‘run out of ideas’ and that Arteta had no real firepower amongst his substitutes to change the game at the Emirates.
Gary Neville has urged Arsenal to back Mikel Arteta this month if they are to win the league
Neville believes two more Arsenal signings could be the difference in the title race with City
A win on Tuesday would have seen Arsenal go 10 points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand, and could be in danger of slipping up in the coming months if the squad isn’t strengthen – given they are without main men Gabriel Jesus and Emile Smith Rowe.
And Neville believes that two more reinforcements in the January transfer window could be the crucial difference between Arsenal winning – and losing – the Premier League title race.
‘The interesting thing is [Fabio] Vieira – I think he cost £34million,’ Neville told Sky Sports. ‘Mikel Arteta clearly felt that if he were to bring him on, he would weaken the team tonight as they tried to win the game. So he hasn’t got faith in his bench to improve the team that is out there.
Their draw with Newcastle saw them miss out on the chance to go 10 points clear at the top
‘They do rely on the perfect pass, the thread. They don’t have full-backs that deliver really good crosses, they don’t have a midfield player who switches the play or puts a De Bruyne-style play.
‘They’re so reliant on those short combinations, which Newcastle defended so well and so compactly and made it difficult for them. They didn’t have another plan off the bench.
‘What they did tonight would have worked well against 10 to 15 teams in the league. They didn’t do badly tonight. Arsenal ran out ideas in this game, but I do think Arteta should have something more to call upon on the bench and they should go into the transfer market.
‘They are in a position where they can win the league here, so when are they going to be in this position again? Can the board and owners find those two players…