Neville: Arsenal gave their fans an uncomfortable evening but deserve credit for getting over the line
4/25/202621 min
Gary Neville discusses Arsenal's 1-0 win over Newcastle in the Premier League as the Gunners went back to the top of the league, moving three points clear of Manchester City. However, it was a nervy evening for Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium as Yoane Wissa missed a golden opportunity to equalise for Newcastle late on.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRob· Host0:00
Well, welcome along to the Gary Neville Podcast, which today comes fr- to, to you from the Emirates, where we've just witnessed Arsenal going back to the top of the Premier League table. But it was a mighty close victory over Newcastle, Gary.
Gary Neville· Guest0:12
Yeah, it was. It was, uh... I think the word is exhausting. Uh, the Arsenal fans, I mean, they're enjoying it now, they're relieved, but, I mean, for the last 20, 25 minutes, it was uncomfortable for them, and you felt that discomfort, didn't you? I mean, they're right next to us here. I don't know if you know. You can spin the camera just towards sort of the fans [chuckles] right behind you. You hear every single shout. Um, but [sighs] they didn't play with urgency in the first half. Um, they got in front, and you're thinking then, "Okay, was it 10 minutes, 11 minutes to go?"
Rob· Host0:49
Yeah.
Gary Neville· Guest0:50
And I thought Newcastle started the game quite well, but then you think, "Okay, back players, less touches on the ball, play it forward. Two midfield players, don't drop back into your back four and sort of end up getting it deep." And then when you end up playing it long, you're disconnected. So a lot of things they did in this game weren't great from a point of view of tactically. I mean, they're very good defensively, and they really work hard, this Arsenal team. One thing that you can never say is, and it's worth, you know, noting, they really do sprint like crazy to get back into their shape, and they defend really well, and they're compact, and they're so well organized, and there's a lot of respect needed for that because we all... There's a lot of,