Jamie Carragher could not resist poking fun at Gary Neville after Arsenal’s victory over Bournemouth, bringing up his comments about Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The London side restored their five-point advantage at the top of the league table after a win on Saturday, coming from two goals down against the Cherries.
Goals from Thomas Partey and Ben White had levelled the scores before a superb left-footed strike from Reiss Nelson in the 97th minute secured all three points at the death.
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Former Manchester United defender Neville has repeatedly played down Arsenal’s title hopes despite their outstanding form – and continuous displays of character – this campaign.
And he was yet again made to eat his words after Saturday’s win, with Arsenal supporters and Carragher – bringing up his previous comments about Zinchenko earlier in the season.
‘The experience is still not there either off the pitch or on the pitch. I’ve watched Oleksandr Zinchenko, but he’s not a leader. I love him to bits… but he’s not a leader,’ said Neville back in August.
‘Is he going to, in the difficult moments of the season, be able to pull it all together? He might do.
‘I like the [transfer] window [Arsenal have had], I like everything you’ve done. Arsenal’s players that were there last season will have been burnt a bit by what happened in terms of falling away at the end [from the top four].
‘So, have they got enough experience when they hit that same situation again and they’re under pressure with 10 games to go, who is going to get them over the line on the pitch to ensure that they don’t do the same thing again?’
After Bournemouth’s win, Carragher shared a clip which edited Neville’s comments alongside clips of Zinchenko showing his leadership skills, giving team talks both at Man City and Arsenal.
Neville replied to Carragher’s barb by saying, ‘Oh he’s gone early!’ and then proceeded to retweet a clip of his own of the Liverpool legend slamming Lisandro Martinez’s lack of height.
Zinchenko gave another excellent display in Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth, rallying his team-mates on the pitch and celebrating wildly after full-time.
The Ukrainian star attempted 94 passes – the joint-most on the pitch – with 62 of those being played in the final third, while he won 11 of his 12 duels, created four opportunities & won possession three times.
