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16th May 2023
04:30pm BST
Gary Neville has accused Arsenal of 'over-celebrating' winning games before leaving themselves with a now-near impossible chance of winning the Premier League.
Neville highlighted a clip of Oleskandr Zinchenko tooting his car and shouting 'come on' to the passing Arsenal fans after their 4-1 win against Crystal Palace earlier in the season and singled out the full back's behaviour in particular.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, he said: "I always doubted whether this Arsenal team [could win the title], just looking at some of the things that were happening.
"The over-celebrations against Aston Villa [after the 4-2 win in February]. I look at little things that might look a little bit harsh - Zinchenko celebrating an hour after the game with the fans outside and screaming.
"You want your leaders in the team, who have been there before to spread composure around the dressing room and calm everybody down. You don't want them to lift the anxiety, lift the emotion."
One Arsenal supporter replied to Neville, correcting him and informing him that it was after the Bournemouth game and not Palace, suggesting that Zinchenko's reactions weren't the sole reason for the Gunners' downturn in form.
He then replied: "If he was tooting his horn 15 games out after beating Bournemouth, calling huddles 6 games out v the bottom of the league [the 3-3 draw with Southampton last month].
"I'm filling in the blanks of what was going on behind the scenes!!! I've seen it before from emotional teams!
"The experience I'm talking from isn't just from winning titles! I lost 4/5 title races as well.
"Some emotions aren't positive ones for a group even if they look it!"
Manchester City could be champions before they next kick a ball if Arsenal lose against Nottingham Forest on Saturday and will retain the title regardless of the result at the City Ground if they beat Chelsea on Sunday.
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