Credit: Sky Sports
Speaking on the first Gary Neville Podcast of the new season, the Sky Sports pundit runs the rule over the weekend action, including impressive wins for Chelsea and Manchester United, plus the long-awaited return of full stadiums.
Gary Neville says Tottenham rose to the occasion in beating Man City on Super Sunday, but Arsenal were the complete opposite at Brentford.
Speaking on the first Gary Neville Podcast of the new season, the Sky Sports pundit runs the rule over the weekend action, including impressive wins for Chelsea and Manchester United, plus the long-awaited return of full stadiums.
“If you look at how Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez defended for Tottenham against Manchester City on Sunday, they got put under a lot of pressure. But they were aggressive and serious about their defending, they knew they had a tough job in front of them and they stuck to it, they never shirked it.
“Arsenal were the complete opposite. I felt like every time a ball got played forward into the two Brentford strikers, Arsenal didn’t really want the fight. Tottenham rose to the occasion, I know they had the fans behind them, but that to me was the difference – the second balls, the hunger to win the balls back, the physicality, the ability to defend well one on one. I just thought Arsenal were way off it.
“I know they were off it in an attacking sense as well, but the foundation for any good performance is that you match the other team competitively and I felt like Tottenham did that and Arsenal didn’t. It was a struggle for them.
“They are well short in quality as well, missing Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. I did think there was something in Mikel Arteta’s interview before the game that told me he wasn’t too happy with them. Usually if a player was ill, there would be genuine concern from a manager, but he pushed it away a little bit like something had gone on.
“That was a blow losing two experienced players, but I felt like before the game, the energy of the players coming in might help against Brentford, but Arsenal are well short. Looking at both north London teams, I know it’s early and it will change, but this Tottenham team looked like it had a spirit about it to dig in.
“Nuno’s teams over the last three years have done that at Wolves. If he can get that ‘hard to beat’ mentality into this team – at times his Wolves teams were called pragmatic, but he’s got better forward players here – then they could do better than expected this season.”
‘City need a striker like Kane’
“I don’t think Man City have been the type of club that would react off the back of one defeat, but it’s three now [Champions League final, Community Shield and Premier League] and they need a striker.
“Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres are forwards, and I know that’s the way the game is going in terms of flexible forwards, like Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. They move around and City have got Raheem Sterling, Jesus, Riyad Mahrez and other players that move across the front line.
“But I think they need a point, they need something, because in games like on Sunday, Kane could have been the difference. He would have taken a chance, played it forward more, he would have demanded that they play quicker, he might have got his head on a cross.
“The thing for me with Man City is when they’re not playing at their best, they start slowing the game down and walking with it. I don’t get why that is. I get that you may not run as hard, but when you’re on the ball, you can still be sharp and move the ball away. They just lost their way at 15 or 20 minutes of the match.
The Super Sunday panel discuss Harry Kane’s future after he was left out of Tottenham’s squad in their 1-0 win over Manchester City.
“Kane will be on the agenda this week, he’s been on the agenda all pre-season. It’s interesting that he wasn’t included in the Spurs squad, I think he’s the only England player from the Euros that hasn’t been included in the matchday squad when he’s fit, and he would always be here.
“So something is happening. If City had any doubts before, which they don’t, they need a striker. They lost Sergio Aguero, one of the best strikers in Premier League history.”
“Chelsea are going to be serious this season in terms of the Premier League. Romelu Lukaku makes them very dangerous.
“I said last week, City wouldn’t have been in for him because he doesn’t suit the manager and the style that he wants to play. He wouldn’t suit Old Trafford, he wouldn’t suit Jurgen Klopp, but for Chelsea, he will score a ton of goals and he is perfect for that club.
“He’s been there before, but he comes back with maturity, experience, with hundreds of goals under his belt. I’ve got no doubts with Lukaku that he will go into the Chelsea team and make them real challengers for the Premier League title.
“He’s a game-changer for them in terms of top four, really pushing Man City, Liverpool and Man Utd.
“If you asked me what an Everton manager looks like, I’d say Rafa Bentiez. He gets a good spirit, good organisation, he’s a little bit more direct. As much as we love the different styles in the Premier League, and the possession-style of teams, I don’t think Everton should ever be that.
“Their style of play is always, for me, [as it was] under David Moyes, or back into the ’80s when they were champions with Sharpe and Gray up front – up and at them, get the ball forward.
“With Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top, there’s no reason for them not to play more direct and get it to the strikers, with quality – we’re not talking about going back to the old days of lumping it. But, I do think Everton should be more direct than other teams we’re looking at – I think that’s their principle.
“If you go to Goodison Park, they don’t want 100 or so passes at the back before a goal, they do want crosses, pressure building, set-pieces, they want the game to be quicker. I think Rafa will play that way.
“But, something doesn’t feel right because of the connection with Liverpool and Rafa’s words and love for Liverpool is so strong, the adulation he still gets from Liverpool fans for what he achieved.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow [for Everton fans] – that a manager so suited to them has to be so connected to their major and bitter rivals. So, there’s something about it I don’t like, but I’ve got no doubts, Rafa has so much experience, he’ll probably love the idea of it, in some ways.”
“It was a very good performance, but we were at the 6-2 last year and we loved the game because Leeds seemed like the perfect opponents for Manchester United. They play one-on-one all over the pitch, I thought Man Utd were sharp and really good, but they were the perfect opponent for United at Old Trafford as well. It was a bit of both, it was an absolute repeat of last year. Every game Leeds play, they make it an interesting watch. It’s intriguing, it’s exciting, just the way they play.
“It was a good start for Man Utd. The way they unveiled Raphael Varane before the game, Jadon Sancho coming off the bench, so there is a good feeling with what is happening at United at the moment. We know what Leeds will do during the season, they’ll go and batter teams 4-0, but also get done at times and look a little bit all over the place.
“But it was a good game and good start for Manchester United, completely different to what happened to Man City today. I know Man City will come back and get better, but it was a good start for the red side of Manchester.”
‘Sensational weekend with fans’
“It’s been an absolutely sensational weekend. I feel enthralled to be watching football again. It’s been hard over the last 18 months for fans not being allowed into the stadiums, for players without the fans, for us commentating on it at times, it was a little bit laborious and we had to put a brave face on. But when they’re back in the stadium and you see it like it is today, it’s so special.
“What would Tottenham have been like without the fans? 15 minutes in, demoralised, it’s quite a warm day, but the fans got them going. That first counter-attack they had, the fans lifted them and then they grew in the game.
“If you said to me after 10 minutes, Tottenham would win that game, I would have said not a chance. They looked completely out of it, City looked like a different world. But Tottenham got better and better with encouragement and I think that’s how you beat a big team, you gain confidence throughout the match. You can’t just beat them in the first 10 minutes because they’ll come back.”
