Gary Neville said that Arsenal left himself briefly in the Premier League title race after he had not signed anyone in the winter transfer window.
Liverpool is now 11 points clearly at the top of the Premier League with 11 games to go after taking advantage of Arsenal's defeat at home at West Ham by winning 2-0 in Manchester City with a dominant display against the champions.
Arsenal was forced to play midfielder Mikel Merino in the front against West Ham After losing first cord attacks Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus to seasonal injuries, while Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are also out.
Arsenal knew that without Saka and Jesus they would be for the nearby with the time that remains in the transfer window, but decided to sign an attacker before Havertz and Martinelli were also sidelined and they seem to have paid the price.
Asked if losing that forward quartet is an honest defense to fall so far behind Liverpool, Neville told the Podcast of Gary Neville: “It's a defense, but then you have to plan it.
“I know they didn't want to do business in the transfer star in January, they thought there was no value in the market, or they could not get the player who would come in and have an impact.
“But they left themselves briefly, there is no doubt about that and they have fallen short.”
He added: “I know they have lost Saka and Jesus, and I know they have lost Havertz, which is a big problem for Arsenal, but I still think you should do that work against West Ham at home.”
Neville expects Arsenal to be particularly frustrated by failing during the season when Manchester City dropped off after completing second place at the champions during the past two years.
“When the city was not there, the team that had to be there was Arsenal,” said Neville.
“They will not be, it doesn't look, and that is the big shock and surprise. That will be the one who will get the hardest in that boardroom of Arsenal, and with Mikel Arteta and the players, because they 'desperate about it to win a title.
“Liverpool signed two in the last three, they signed four in the last eight, Arsenal has had the opportunity to get closer, they could have gone within five points [against West Ham]. “
Neville also accused the side of Mikel Arteta to become obsessed with set pieces at the expense of their fluidity in open game this season.
“They have become pretty rigid for Arsenal, they have sometimes become pretty turgid to look,” said Neville.
“I felt that there was an obsession with set pieces that overtake almost the entire game, exacerbated by the fact that there is the presence of the set piece coach on the touchline.
“I feel that freedom has disappeared a bit from them.”
Analysis: Villas window emphasizes Arsenal -deficiencies
Sky Sports' Zinty Boswell:
Arsenal worked hard to sign an attacker during the transfer window, but decided that there was no player available on the market that would have improved them.
Aston Villas Winter signs, and their success in the short space of a few weeks, shows that this was incorrect.
Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, Loan Impacts from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, came with clear risks after a fragmentary form of recent times, but immediately had an impact.
Depth was clearly a problem for Villa and they tackled it by signing two experienced players for temporary deals. It raises the question why Arsenal did not follow a similar approach.
The first priority of Arsenal should undoubtedly be a striker, but they also have a shortage of forwards, such as illustrated by Arteta that brings two left backs, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Myles Lewis-Skelly, on Saturday to West Ham.
Can you imagine how much better Arsenal could have been if that Asensio came from the bank?
There is a feeling that every signing should be the perfect, perhaps that is more a reality under the spending rules of the current Premier League, but that cannot be an excuse for Arsenal here. Adding bodies was crucial.
The lack of a permanent replacement for sports director Edu Gaspar may have played a role. That was also the lack of goal scorers at the elite level.
Whatever the problem is, Arsenal has left itself short in the season that the city was brought out of battle. And it certainly took them the title.
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