Chelsea's late equaliser huge boost for Arsenal | Amorim's post match comments 'never usually good' | Chelsea need more experience

0:00Welcome everybody to the first Gary Neville podcast of 2026 and it comes actually at the end of what has been a very newsworthy first weekend of 2026 in the Premier League. We're at the Etihad Stadium where Manchester City have had the maximum points they really needed, Gary, snatched away from them right at the very end.

0:20Gary Neville:Yes, and 1-0 up, City no doubt they could have seen that game out but with Diaz off the pitch, Guardiola off the pitch, Kusanov and Ake at centre-back coming on. And then you've got Nunes and O 'Reilly. You just felt, along with how Chelsea changed at half-time, that there could be some danger coming City's way. I always think that there are certain sort of chants that you hear in grounds that are more of a chant of, come on, we're going to lose this or we're going to draw this. And there are a few come-on cities, probably three that I heard before Chelsea scored, that were quite clear signals to the players on the pitch, to us because we could feel it up here that you need to go and get a second.

1:02Gary Neville:I think I said it with 20 minutes to go. If City don't get a second here, I've got a feeling that they're not going to win the game. And Chelsea were really dangerous on the counter-attack in the second half. The big question was whether Chelsea had that goal in them. Where was the bite going to come from? Because I said it very early on in the game, they're a nice team. I mean, Neto, you said, I think, towards the end that he was getting further into the match in the second half and he was bright. But it was bloody frustrating me. like you wouldn't believe. And, you know, he's a smidgen away from being an Eden Hazard, but he's never going to be an Eden Hazard because he hasn't got that sort of...

1:37Gary Neville:Eden Hazard had that sort of beautiful sort of glide about him, but he's also a killer. And you've got to be a killer in those positions, and Neto's not, and just really frustrating in the second half. But I think Enzo moving forward won. The boy Santos coming on alongside Rhys James, who was excellent in midfield. So Santos and Rhys James a little bit deeper. but it meant that basically Enzo was a bit further forward on that sort of left channel. That was a big threat. I thought de Lapp was a handful when he came on as well. So, look, they got what they deserved in the end, Manchester City, for not killing the game off.

2:11Chelsea deserved a point in a way because of how they reacted,

2:16Gary Neville:but they should have been killed off by Manchester City. Pep Guardiola and those City players will need a little bit of picking up tonight. They'll go home. We've all been there as football players and thought, Oh, that's a bad one. That's a bad one. I think, you know, you get a point away at Sunderland, you can sort of half accept it, and then you win today and you sort of think, right, OK, no problems. We're going into the sort of, you know, still got 18 games to go, but you wouldn't want to be six points behind. Still a long way to go, still can be retrieved, but that was just a little dig in the ribs tonight.

2:46Gary Neville:One that basically will hurt Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.

2:52Gary Neville:And it's of their own causing, because in the first half, If they let the game nicely drift towards half-time, they got a little bit more threat in the game about 10 minutes before half-time and they got the goal. But go and get the second. Go and get the second goal. They could have got it before half-time. They didn't do. And then they should have gone and got it in that first 25, 30 minutes of the second half. I think Foden played quite a few sloppy passes. I don't think they were sort of really ruthless in the final bit. Cherky, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Haaland, Dokku, all of them guilty of just not really doing that final bit that they know how to do so well, which is kill teams off.

3:28Gary Neville:And once they weren't killing teams off, Chelsea had a counter-attack on them. And Chelsea's counter-attack in the end has got them through the game. And what a good moment for Callum McFarlane. But for Manchester City, yeah, they'll be gutted tonight. They really will. Have you got any comment, big picture-wise, to make on Chelsea and the week they've had and the change of coach and so on? Yeah, I mean, look, that's a good end to this week. for Chelsea from where it is. When you lose a manager, it's always harrowing. No one likes to see a manager lose his job or a manager give his job up however you want to read it at Chelsea.

4:00Gary Neville:It's been coming for two or three weeks. I think he did a press conference, didn't he, two or three weeks ago where he talked sort of... His worst 48 hours. Yeah, his worst 48 hours, subliminal messages, reading into things, almost you wouldn't... It's almost worse when managers do that because then you're left wondering who is he having a go at? But what you know is it isn't going to end well. That's the thing you do absolutely. know when these things start to happen. So I wasn't surprised at all by Maresca being out of a job. I think that what's happened in the last couple of weeks is that you see a club that's got very little experience in their ownership of Premier League football.

4:35Gary Neville:They've only been in it for a couple of years. Then they bring in sort of sporting directors who are sort of what would be fresh sporting directors, should we say. They get rid of Marina, they get rid of Petr Cech. They obviously then sort of lose Thomas Tuchel, very experienced operators and then you've got young players on the pitch and you've got young players in the young coaches in the dugout so it's just almost in some ways quite inexperienced all the way through the club and with that you get inconsistency and you get things like you see from Chelsea where they can be really sensational in parts of matches and you think I really like them such a nice team to watch but then you think where is that sort of where is that fierceness that ruthlessness, that spine, that physicality, that mental strength that's going to get this club from being a really talented club that's spent a lot of money into a club that's going to win things.

5:25Gary Neville:And there's a big jump yet in that respect because that team that we've seen out there today plays really good football at times. Some of the football is silky, it's smooth, but they're really short and everyone knows where they're really short. They're short in goal, they're short at centre-half, even though they thought the centre-half did well today, and they're short up top. But they're going to be like this for a bit I think the policy of signing young players is fine. Who wouldn't want to see young players signed by a football club that have got many years in front of them and loads of potential?

5:54Gary Neville:But you do need to have some experience. And that team needs three 30-year-olds who've been around the block and know how to win as a minimum. Your squad really should be made up of five or six 30-year-olds, five or six probably under 23s, and then 12 in the middle between 23 and 29-30 that are your real core. but basically still got a lot of experience. That is a championship winning squad and profile of it. What Chelsea have at the moment is an average age of 23 the other day, wasn't it? Look, you genuinely can't win anything with kids. That's a fact. I'm going to say it now. Said one of the original kids who won.

6:31I'm going to say it now.

6:32Gary Neville:After 29 years, you cannot win anything with kids. Alan Hansen was absolutely right. You need experienced players in your spine and then you might be able to put some kids alongside it. So for me, I think they need some experience in and around the club. If you've got young players out on the pitch, I also think you need an experienced manager so they can look up to them with a bit of grey hair. And it looks like they're going to appoint another young manager again. And I just think young players, young manager, young players need senior sort of authority and experience around them and guidance to know how to...

7:05Gary Neville:Because this Chelsea team, they're still getting into the Champions League. They're still winning trophies. They're still doing well. But with the money that's been spent, there's an expectation from the owners I think that they're going to win the Premier League and they're going to win big trophies quite often they're not going to do that until they get some more experience so look it is where it is they've got some real talent in the squad there is that of no doubt but there's a long way to go before we can say that they're going to be challenging for the title which is where I always rate Chelsea I played against some of the greatest Chelsea teams that won titles and that's the benchmark that's been set yeah that's where Chelsea are and for City today yeah you know I'd love to know what Pep Guardiola is saying to them right now probably picking them up because I mean a few of them actually fell on the floor at the end weren't there in that far corner which is unusual for a group of experienced players that have been around the block and won leagues but there's a couple of them fell to the ground because they thought they knew that was a bad one but yeah I'm sure they'll come back it's been a hefty period over Christmas but it's a boost for Arsenal that today after they had a terrific game down at Bournemouth last night really really watchable game I wonder given that balance and without in any sense ignoring Aston Villa because they're in it whether it is now City's target to be within touch of Arsenal when the two meet in the middle of April if they can make that the pivotal game somehow that's why they'll be annoyed I think if they could just hang on their shoulder even six points but if four points off them with eight games to go, seven games to go.

8:41Gary Neville:That would be really, really interesting. And Pep Guardiola can start to really turn the heat up. But they've got to be within touching distance of them. I said, I think, in my podcast the other day, that I think Arsenal will win the title. I think that City will go in front of them at times, maybe. They might catch them up. But I just think that Arsenal have got so much. I think yesterday at Bournemouth was the perfect example of that. You know, they go a goal down. Gabriel has that sort of pass across the box. But then the firepower that they bring off the bench, you know, Jesus, Saka and Trossard, I think they brought off the bench, didn't they, in the second half.

9:18Gary Neville:That's going to do real damage. When you can bring players on of that quality, replacing players that are already on the pitch of quality, and you're going at sort of Bournemouth's defence with, you know, that are tiring and fatiguing as the game goes on, you're going to win a lot of matches. The amount of times that great teams win with their substitutes and their sort of difference makers off the bench is so important. And Arsenal have got that. They really have. I mean, Havertz is back as well. Well, yeah, I was going to say, Gary, you mentioned the three subs. So that's six forward players who played for Arsenal yesterday.

9:47Eze didn't get on.

9:48Gary Neville:And Havertz wasn't even in the playing party. I mean, that is formidable strength, isn't it? It is. And that's what they're going to have going down the home straight. They're going to have options. And what Arsenal are going to be able to do, I mean, City can do it as well. You think when Doki comes on the pitch today, you think that he's got that sort of ability to do things. But what Arsenal are going to be able to do is be 1-1, 1-0 down and be able to throw on three or four players that are just going to completely transform the game and the momentum of a match. And they're well set up and they're definitely better defensively than Manchester City.

10:20Gary Neville:I look at that City back four at the end, that would concern me. That's not going to win a title. So Guardiola and Diaz, maybe you could get there, but I'm not sure that that four at the end are going to get anywhere near a title. They're going to concede chances and goals and you're going to be able to get at them. So that's a big problem. If Diaz and sort of Guardiola are out for four weeks now, what does that do to City? So, yeah, Arsenal look like they've really invested well behind that sort of top back four that they've got. Timber, Calafiore, Gabriel and Saliba, you've now got Incafier, you've got Luis Skelly, you've got Ben White and they've missed one, there's Muscara.

10:52Gary Neville:So you've got basically two back fours. I think the second back four of Arsenal is almost as good as the first back four of City. that's how good that second back four is so that's a real strong point it's difficult to see how Arsenal can't really do it from here with the power that they've got and the strength and the sort of reinforcements on Aston Villa who we have to mention they're level on points with Manchester City and I'm hearing every time a pundits ask are Aston Villa in the title race and the answer generally is kind of no no um and I sense actually the Villa fans quite like that they're happy with at.

11:28They understand where they're at. But you look at the league table and you're entitled to have an argument about that.

11:34Gary Neville:Yeah, but it's a good no. It's a no with a smile for Villa fans because the reason they're up there is, well, they're a good team, but they're manager. I genuinely believe they're managers of a different level than the other managers that sort of have got a similar squad of players to him. I think he's a difference maker in respect of an extra sort of 6, 7, 8, 10 points from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham. I genuinely think that This manager is sensational. He's the second best manager in the league behind Pep Guardiola. And that's why Villa, with a squad that, you know, if you look across it, it's not sensational.

12:07Gary Neville:It's not amazing. It's not sort of groundbreaking in any sense. It's solid. But you've got a guy who knows how to get the maximum out of them in terms of individually, but more importantly, collectively, the way in which they play. They've got a definite style. They all know what they're going to do. They know where their next pass is. I watch so many teams where basically there are a lot of what I call single passes. You watch sort of Villa. you see combinations and sort of they can play it without looking. They know someone's going to be there and that's the ability of their coach to be able to do what he does.

12:34Gary Neville:So for me, Villa are going to finish in the top four because of their ability of their manager and the ability of their coach and the solidity of their team formation to repeat patterns that they do. And they're doing brilliantly well, but they're not going to win the title. They're well away from Arsenal. They're well away from Manchester City. They might not even finish third, but they definitely will finish, I think, in Champions League spaces and they deserve it. I want to do Liverpool and Manchester United and the bottom of the league. So we can take that in any order. Let's do Liverpool.

13:04We weren't able to see much of their game today except that astonishing Fulham equaliser late in it.

13:10Gary Neville:Yeah, I was watching a bit of it in the truck and Virch scored the equaliser. Yeah, Virch, I was thinking back to the game. Virch scored the equaliser and it was just on the edge of offside and he got the goal. The amount of times from me walking from a truck up to a gantry that Liverpool score late on is unbelievable in this last couple of years. I got here and then my flash score comes up 2-1. And that little killer thing. Always a little bit of a dig, isn't it? When Liverpool win late on. And all of a sudden, they throw in our screens the Harrison Reid goal that is absolutely wow. I mean, what a goal that is.

13:46Gary Neville:Look, I think Alisson's the best. Absolute best. You just, I haven't got basically anything negative to say about him. I think he's a fantastic goal. to beat him from there takes some doing and it was a special, special strike. It would have gutted Liverpool. They're not at the best. They're not at the best. They're conceding goals still. He's still not quite right up front.

14:11Gary Neville:But Liverpool look like they're going to finish in the Champions League places partly because they're good enough too but partly because there aren't enough teams around them good enough to actually knock them out of them. That's, I think, going to be the reality of Liverpool. They've got enough good players up top. Salah's going to come back. Yeah, they're going to get there in terms of Champions League space, but they're not going to get to anywhere. They're not going to near the levels of last season, but they're not going to really shock us and go on a great run in the second half of the season, I don't think, because they're still making quite a lot of errors and mistakes.

14:41Gary Neville:Although at the end today, that was just an absolute gem from Harrison Reid and something that, yeah, Liverpool will again be gutted on the way home. Pep Guardiola was just coming into his after-match interview, which, yeah. Okay. Now, Manchester United drew at Leeds today. Nobody, I think, is particularly surprised that that is one of the great, you know better than me, one of the great furious fixtures in English football. Leeds, Man United and at Ellen Road, Leeds can do damage to anyone. So that is unremarkable. But Ruben Amrim's had some really interesting post-match things to say, hasn't he?

15:15Which I think you know more about than me. So you tell me.

15:19Gary Neville:Well, no, it came up to me during the first half. if I'd not seen it myself, but apparently some bizarre comments around, I'm a manager, I'm not a head coach, which I just said before, didn't I, about Maresca, about once you start this sort of, what would be game playing in your press conferences, obviously something is annoying him. He's obviously not feeling the support. He's obviously sort of letting go. When you say that you come to the club as a manager, I don't know, I'd have to check it. I thought he was appointed as the head coach of the football club and quite clearly appointed to coach the team.

15:56Gary Neville:Manager is a title that we don't see, I don't think, anymore. I'm not sure whether even Pep Guardiola is the manager of Manchester City or he's head coach. Manager suggests that he's saying he wants to manage more than just the training ground performance. He wants to overlook other parts of the club because I played under a manager and they basically have a greater say in what would be other parts of the club, including recruitment, including sort of academy, including style of play, including the way in which maybe the club goes about their pre-season friendlies and the sort of the other things.

16:28Gary Neville:So I think he's suggesting maybe that he needs to be given the ability to manage more departments of the club. Because I think that was part of his quote, and I've not seen the press conference at all, so I'm talking here just from seeing them sent through to me by the Sky producer about basically other people having to do their jobs in their departments, which again seems that he's not happy with something. So something's happened there in the last week with the quotes that are coming out that mean that Ruben Amirim is now starting to unleash a little bit. And as Mareska did, I've had the worst 48 hours.

17:05Gary Neville:It's not quite that, but it's something similar in a way which it's not explicit what he means, but everyone's having to read between the lines what he means, which looks to me like he's not happy with something within the hierarchy. That's the sort of thing that basically is coming out of it. He's mentioned my name in there as well, apparently. I think that's one of the sort of things that managers tend to do towards difficult periods. They tend to sort of have a go at pundits. No problem with that whatsoever. I've actually been quite supportive in the last few weeks of Manchester United's performances against Bournemouth and against Aston Villa and against Newcastle, thought they were very good.

17:43Gary Neville:I couldn't be supportive after the game the other night against Wolves, if that's what Ruben Amarin was referring to. It wasn't right the other night against Wolves. And you have to say that as well. It wasn't right when we played against Everton with 10 men and we kept three players at the back. So I am going to call out when I see things that aren't right, because that's my job. But that aside, I think the bigger problem isn't what he said necessarily about me. In fact, it isn't a problem at all. It's more the problem of what he's saying and what he's insinuating is happening behind the scenes.

18:10Gary Neville:Maybe around the transfer window in January. Maybe he felt that the club would support in January. But I must admit, I was surprised that Manchester United spent that much money in the summer because when they got knocked out of the Europa League, I mean, everyone knew that Manchester United's financial situation. You just have to look at the numbers. You don't have to base it. This is not guessing. Just go and look at the sort of accounts. They haven't got any money. It's a staggering thing to say. but after 10 to 12 years of mismanagement, of really shocking recruitment, of wastage, of lack of investment in the stadium, of all these things that have come to a fall in the last couple of years, means that Manchester United are currently tight on cash, one of the biggest football clubs in the world.

18:52Gary Neville:They found, was it 150, 180 million in the summer, something like that, on three players. They signed Sesco, Embermo and Cunha, which obviously was massive, massive investment and everyone was like, where did that money come from all of a sudden? And so I'm not surprised that there isn't any further money, to be fair, in January. But he obviously wants players, Ruben Amrim. He probably wants a midfield player. He probably wants another wing-back. If he's going to cement that 3-4-3 system, it's clear he needs another wing-back who can play in those wide areas. It's a unique position that isn't sort of, if you like, a specialist by many.

19:28Gary Neville:And Manchester United do need a central midfield player of force, of power, of presence. They needed that in the summer, but they chose to go and strengthen up top. So maybe he's been told in the last week or two that he's not getting any players. I don't know. I genuinely don't know what the situation is. But it's not going to go away. And when these press conferences of this ilk start, it's never usually good. You mentioned Maresco and perhaps the parallels. Don't know enough about it to know how far those parallels go. but it does speak to the key relationships within a football club, doesn't it?