Gary Neville says Arsenal do something almost no other team in world football can

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Gary Neville hasn’t held back in his latest admission about Arsenal.

The Sky Sports pundit has backed Arsenal to win the league for three seasons in a row, believing Mikel Arteta can deliver the title. 

Neville thinks Arsenal will win the league this year, which would be quite a feat given how other clubs are strengthening. 

Still, like every club, Arsenal have their strengths, with Neville believing that the Gunners do one thing better than most in the world. 

Gary Neville says Arsenal are the best at defending leads

Neville thought several Arsenal players could’ve done better vs Manchester United on the opening day of the new Premier League season. 

That being said, the pundit was also full of admiration for how Arteta’s squad conducted themselves as a unit. 

Speaking on Tim Howard and Landon Donovan’s Unfiltered Soccer podcast, Neville drew attention to how good Arsenal are at maintaining leads. 

“There’s a lot to admire about Arsenal,” Neville said.

“If you remember that period where we were all criticising them a good few years back, when they were quite flimsy and they’d concede goals and they’d give leads away.

“I think now, they’re probably the only team that I can think of in the league. One of the very few and rare teams, I think in world football, that really you can trust them when they go a goal up.”

Arsenal’s defensive success is a newfound strength in recent years under Arteta, something that fans are still becoming accustomed to. 

Before, supporters would be concerned about whether the Gunners could hold three-goal leads, but now, there’s a feeling of safety due to the mentality Arteta has drilled into his players.

Neville went on to say that Arsenal remind him of how Italy’s defence was once celebrated.

“It’s an old principle of teams that maybe 15, 20 years ago, they could defend leads, and they could be really focused and concentrated on the defensive side of the game.

“They’re like a little bit of a throwback to an old Italian team at times.”

Mikel Arteta just needs to find balance

Finding defensive stability is huge for Arsenal, but it appears that the Gunners can’t quite find the balance of having strength at the back and in attack. 

The 2022/23 season was when Arsenal first emerged as true title contenders under Arteta, playing free-flowing football but being fragile at the back when the pressure was on. 

The following season was a defensive masterclass, but Arsenal couldn’t do enough to beat Manchester City to the title. 

Last season had a similar narrative, giving fans hope that this campaign is the one that Arteta finds the balance he needs to deliver silverware.