Arsenal: Harsh Gary Neville lays down the justified and true law

During his commentary of Arsenal’s pathetic Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City, Gary Neville laid down the law: This was not good enough. Well, he was bang on.

It is often difficult to fully describe the ineptitude of Arsenal football club, especially the more recent iterations of the formerly imperious organisation. Even though it is still the man who founded much of that greatness that is the chief engineer of this current machine, it is not quite whirring like it used to. The oil has dried. The components are rusty. The results are painful.

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Arsene Wenger has faced some heavy criticism in his time. The fanbase is one of the more vociferous factions of society. They are equally as happy to heap on the praise when things are going well as they are to decimate and destroy when such success is hard to find. But he may not face the questioning, scrutiny and downright abuse that he will receive this week. This is a new low.

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In his commentary of the debacle, Gary Neville, who is an excellent, insightful and intelligent pundit who regularly makes some excellent points, did not hold back on his own perspective of the current troubles in North London. He most certainly laid down the law. Among a wide range of notes, he highlighted the walking of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, labelled the team ‘spineless’, and seriously challenged Wenger’s place as manager.

But here is one particular extract of what he said that, I believe, sums up the issues at Arsenal better than many have in the past:

"“I have to say, I’m struggling to come up with words now to describe this Arsenal pattern, this engrained, embedded pattern that we’ve seen. I’ve not really liked their defending for a long time, I’ve not really liked their leadership, the character, and the spirit on the pitch, but you’ve always liked the football – I don’t even like the football anymore. The last bastion has gone.”"

It is a fair point. The defensive shortcomings, the fragile mentality, the lack of leadership, the absence of resolve, metal and fight. They are all issues that have plagued this club for many years, but Arsenal have been able to overcome them thanks to their superior quality. Well, now they don’t have that quality, and those others weaknesses are now being exposed.

Neville proceeds to say that the likes of Liverpool and Spurs are now playing better football than Wenger’s team, which is true, while Chelsea and Manchester United have the steel and stability to grind out the results that keep them competitive. Arsenal, per Neville, have neither. Sadly, he’s right.

Now, this is not to excuse the utter foolishness in not addressing the character and commitment flaws that have been present for well over a decade. That is still criminal management, stemming directly from Wenger. But now there is no hiding place because the football cannot make up for those deficiencies. Everything is under the piercing spotlight. It is not a pretty sight.

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Whether and when Wenger will leave are two uncertainties that will be answered in due course. But until that time comes, and even after that time, I have little confidence that these stark and deep-rooted issues can be solved. Sunday was a sad and sobering day indeed.