Arsenal fans are quick to remind Gary Neville of club review three years after iconic analysis

Gary Neville has been reminded of a harsh assessment he made just three years ago of last season's Premier League title rivals Arsenal.

But while Arsenal Fans have shamelessly mocked the Manchester United legend for that (not everyone agrees he has aged so badly after all).

Arsenal missed the chance to secure their first title Premier League title since 2003/04 again last season, when a series of errors allowed a ruthless Manchester City to claim a fourth consecutive title.

It is the second consecutive season in which they have been surpassed by Pep Guardiolaside of

But it does mark a significant improvement over many of his previous campaigns.

Before the 2022/23 season, Mikel ArtetaThe Manchester side had not finished higher than fifth in the league since 2016, and have received high praise for becoming the main rival to this dominant City side.

And now, an old clip has resurfaced showing Nevillethe defender-turned-pundit, criticising what he described as Arsenal's unfortunate approach to their progression in 2021.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville was reflecting on Arsenal's opening game of the season, which they lost 2-0 away to newly promoted Brentford.

The Bees had not been in the Premier League for 74 years before the game, but Thomas Frank's side really outdid the team that has never been outside the top flight in the modern era.

And Neville was not at all impressed by the performance he had just witnessed.

“I don't know Arsenal's plan,” he said. “Recruitment has been really poor. They're bad at it compared to other clubs. They just are. They've been poor in recent years.”

“I don't understand the strategy, I don't understand the direction they're taking the team in. I think they have a very talented young coach and I said, even if he gets the best out of them, I don't think they can make the top four.

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“He's going to be under pressure because all the managers of the top six clubs who are losing games will be under pressure and you can see that tonight in his post-match interview. I don't know if there's anything about Aubameyang and Lacazette in the pre-match interview.

“To be fair, I thought there was some truth to it when he said 'they were sick earlier today, that's all I can say'. It was a bit brief.

“I never know if there are deeper problems, if he likes his players and it worries me a lot when coaches don't like a member of the dressing room, I can sense it. Maybe not, knowing Mikel Arteta. Obviously he wants good professionals.”

Now that the Gunners' fortunes have improved in recent seasons, supporters have been quick to flock to X to remind Neville of his comments at the time.

“This has aged well,” one fan commented.

And others couldn't help but remind the former Manchester United star of the unfavourable direction his former club had taken in recent years.

“When you've finally become what you made fun of,” wrote one.

While another commented: “If we had followed the United model, Gary…”

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Neville was not left without his supporters, however, as many fans came out to support his words, arguing that there was, in fact, a lot of substance to what he had said.

“Three years later, 0 trophies,” one noted.

“Fast forward to 2021 and most Arsenal fans felt the same way. Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” recalled a second fan.

And a third reasoned: “He was absolutely right. 'A talented manager', 'they won't make the top 4'. He was talking about next season, when Arsenal will finish 5th. Didn't he say Arsenal couldn't improve later on?”

And while Arsenal have certainly improved in the intervening period, Neville's words did They are coming off a season in which they ultimately finished outside the Champions League places, missing out on fourth place by two points.

They have also failed to win a title since 2021, not making it past the fourth round of the FA Cup or the semi-finals of the League Cup.

European success has also eluded them, as they only managed to reach one semi-final and one round of 16 in the Europa League, as well as reaching the quarter-finals in the Champions League.

And Neville, never shy about expressing his thoughts, got his revenge by reminding his critics of that very fact.

“Congratulations on your success, well done,” he taunted Arsenal fans, adding a trophy emoji at the end.