Arsenal dropped two points thanks to the silly error by Granit Xhaka, and Gary Neville isn’t laying all the blame on the midfielder.
The team had plenty of opportunities to take a grip on the game before the scores were levelled by the midfielder’s mistake, and even more chances with the scores tied.
Neville wasn’t concentrating on what the team should have done however, but explains that the error by Xhaka is down to the coaching.
The team has clearly been given instructions to play out from the back, and personally Leno sees Xhaka under pressure and moves into space for the ball to be returned to him which isn’t getting a mention, but the 28 year-old tries to find the pass out wide to Calum Chambers using his weaker foot, and it all goes wrong.
Neville believes that part of the blame has to go onto the coaching staff, as Xhaka would have been instructed to give his team-mate the option of the pass, as well as the goalkeeper having been told to play out from the back.
“I think ultimately goalkeepers play better than some outfield players would have done 20 years ago,” Neville told listeners to his podcast.
“The game has changed and it should change. We should welcome these changes.
“Gone are the days now where I sit on Monday Night Football and would criticise Xhaka. I would criticise him for the execution, but not for the principle.
“For me what we are seeing is that this is normality – that players are going to play out from their own box, but the execution was wrong.
“The idea that he was given a bad pass by his goalkeeper, I don’t go along with that. That pass was expected to be given, they’re coached to give that pass there. Xhaka just gets it wrong.”
Does one person deserve more slack for the goal than the others? Does the final buck land on the management?
Patrick