Gary Neville 'offended' by 'annoying' Arsenal man Mikel Arteta must deal with

Mikel Arteta has been told he needs to get one of his coaches in check after Wednesday’s North London derby win over Tottenham. The Gunners got the job done in the derby and managed to gain on leaders Liverpool in the process, now within four points of the leaders, albeit they have played a game more.

The Gunners have struggled in front of goal over recent times, with Kai Havertz struggling to find the net consistently, while Gabriel Jesus suffered a season-ending knee injury in the midst of a recently discovered purple patch.

Arsenal have had to rely significantly on set-pieces this season, maintaining their reputation as the set-piece kings. Set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been key to that, although he has divided opinion with his sideline antics, leaping to his feet and taking on an almost managerial role when the Gunners win a set-piece opportunity.

That’s something that has annoyed Gary Neville, who said on the Stick to Football podcast: “I called him the most annoying man in football. Do you know something? I'm cementing my position, I'm doubling down.

"It's offending me every week. I'm going to say this really calmly, I think he's overreaching his importance. If a goalkeeper makes a good save, I don't see the goalkeeping coach on the edge of the touchline. I don't see the other coaches going up and getting the glory for it. The manager is at the front, he can't communicate from 50 yards away to players who know what they're doing. I think he's overreaching his importance, I genuinely believe that.

"I see goalkeeper coaches and brilliant coaches who work on other aspects of the game, I don't see them pointing to themselves and overreaching their importance. That's how I feel. I get he's important and he's doing a great job but I do genuinely think he needs to sit back a little bit. I think the players will start to look at him as well and think, 'hang on a minute, come on'."