Neville's end-of-season Premier League review | Arsenal champions, Spurs pathetic and Pep is one of the greatest!

0:00Hello, welcome to the Gary Neville podcast, the final of the 2025-2026 season. And we sit here at the gantry at a sweltering Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having Gary just watch Spurs escape by the skin of their teeth. First of all, your thoughts on the afternoon and what we've seen unfold here in terms of the Spurs performance on the day.

0:21Gary Neville:Yeah, I mean, there were many Spurs fans before the game that I spoke to. I spoke to one in a taxi yesterday for about 20 minutes in the middle of London. and there wasn't one Spurs fan that thought that today was going to be comfortable. They thought it was going to be a terrifying experience. I actually think that was as comfortable as they could have got in respect of... I thought they played really well. They controlled the game from minute one. I thought that Conor Gallagher started that off by his first five minutes. He was really at it, running forward. I thought the midfield got a grip of the game.

0:55Gary Neville:I'm not going to repeat this, but Everton were absolutely awful. I mean, you couldn't have actually wished for a better opponent today than Everton. They were dire. David Moyes didn't get anything out of his team, and I think he'll be unhappy about that. But for Spurs, they were dominant as a 1-0 could be, and they felt really comfortable. They defended well. Everton didn't have a shot on target, I think, until 15, 20 minutes to go. Their work ethic was good. Their compactness, their shape, their authority on the ball. All the things that you might say wouldn't be there in a nervous, anxious ground and a nervous, anxious team.

1:29Gary Neville:I didn't see that. There was a lot of experience out on the pitch. And I think today they handled the occasion well. I mean, it doesn't get away from how they've been and what they put this crowd through and this fan base through. But today I thought they were solid. Their third home win of the season, their first since December. It's been wretched here. The joint, before today, the joint worst record with Burnley at home in the Premier League. What is it about this place? How do they start to go about putting it right? Oh, it's an absolute disgrace. I mean, they were my closing words at the end of the game when you threw to me.

2:03Gary Neville:You mentioned that obviously there was celebration and the fans were celebrating because for them it's real. For the players, I'm sure for some of them it is real. But for some of them, I said it doesn't feel like they want to be on the bus. and that's what Roberto Di Zerbe is going to have to work out in this. Well, he's probably worked it out already. I mean, not won a game here since Christmas. It's absolutely shocking for a group of players that have been explicitly assembled and for a club of such stature. But they're flimsy. They're weak. They're vulnerable. And the autopsy really has got to begin.

2:41Gary Neville:I'm sure it already has, but they've been fighting for their lives for the last few weeks. so there's probably now going to be a real concentration on it, whereas in the last few weeks they're probably sort of what will be toying with recruitment for next season, thinking, well, are we going to be in the Championship or are we going to be in the Premier League? Now they know for real, having escaped today, they can start to basically drive a bulldozer through that dressing room because that's what they need to do. It's been a massive failing. But all through the club, you know, the decisions, even the decision this week, even what's happened with Romero, watching that sort of emerge over the last few days, that story if Romero had gone back to Argentina without permission of management at the club we would have heard about it that he'd gone rogue he hasn't gone rogue I think they've given him permission I think they've said go on get yourself back completely misunderstanding what togetherness is and I think what was that sort of what was that sort of line they've been using in the last few weeks yeah all together always unless you're in Argentina all together always and you know something you hear some of this leadership don't you from time to time which sort of spouted out in business and spouted out in football clubs where they have signs on walls but the problem is the actions speak a lot louder than words the actions out on the pitch speak a lot louder than words the dare to do do they dare to do these players I don't think so are they always together no I don't think so is there a connection right the way through the club No, we hear that the owners have been trying to sell this club for two or three, four years, now trying to get as high a price as possible.

4:20Gary Neville:They've done a great job in certain ways with certain things that they've built, in infrastructure terms, but they failed the fans on the pitch that is most important. You know, football is all about first-team performance at a football club, whether that's the women's team, the men's team. You've got to win. You've got to win. And I have to say, you know, these Spurs fans are celebrating today. and look at that sign there behind that goal. It's the perfect moment for it, Bill. Do you want to read it out? Well, there's one there that says, promised success, delivering failure. Enoch out. There's another one at the other end that says, love Tottenham, hate Enoch.

4:57Yeah. They need to get their act together, don't they? I mean, they parted company with Daniel Levy and made big promises that things were going to be different and that they were going to turn over a new leaf. Things have got worse. Yeah.

5:08Gary Neville:Well, what's happened is the always together that you mentioned, has come from the fans because they have stayed together. There was a protest, I think, planned a few months or so ago and they cancelled it because they recognised that the team needed them out on the pitch and Deserby needed them out on the pitch and Tudor needed them out on the pitch. They've turned up in the thousands outside the ground today, these Tottenham fans, to urge their team forward. I thought that might add a little bit of anxiety to the players, but it actually didn't do. They handled it well. But you've got players out on this pitch, quite a few of them, are going to be going to the World Cup.

5:40Gary Neville:they've got experience they've got some quality out there and look is it too far to say that they've been pathetic that they should be ashamed of themselves probably not you know this is Tottenham Hotspur and I know sometimes I get mocked for saying this is Manchester United but you know this is a football club steeped in incredible traditions now they've not won trophies for a long time regularly even though they won the Europa League last year it was fantastic and you know it was great for this fan base to celebrate a trophy but they've been underachievers and underperforming for a long time but then this is another level of underachievement and hitting new lows you know the last two years in the Premier League and where they've been so like you say there's got to be a massive reset there's got to be an autopsy that goes really deep right the way through the club and to be fair when you're owners of a football club and I'm an owner of a football club sometimes you have to start by looking in the mirror yourself you absolutely do because success sometimes doesn't come in a football club because of the decisions that you make because of what you do not because of what the fans do, what the players do, what the coaches do, but just right the way through here, I mean, appointing Igor Tudor and having to sack him within a few weeks, it didn't feel right, that appointment from day one, did it?

6:52Gary Neville:It just didn't connect. Yeah, sacking Hans Postacoglu, bringing Thomas Frank in, someone who's highly respected, bringing Igor Tudor in now, bringing De Zerbien. Yeah, what a rollercoaster of a season, and they have lost a lot of credibility and trust, and you can see the signs that are up there that you've just rid out at the opposite end of the ground against the owners and I'm not surprised. Let's throw this forward a little bit. I think a lot of Spurs fans, certainly ones I've spoken to, are quite excited now that, you know, if we stay up then things could get quite exciting under Roberto de Zerbi.

7:24We've seen at probably the most stable Premier League club he managed to fall out with the management then because they didn't match his ambition and that's obviously when he was at Brighton. He walked out on Marseille because things went, you know, he's explosive, he's combative and he's combustible. If they don't back him properly in the summer, you could see him walking out, couldn't you? He's obviously been made promises to come in.

7:43Gary Neville:Oh, they'll have to back him. Oh yeah, I think he's not going to sit down lightly and sort of just have his belly tickled by the ownership and believe anything that they say. I mean, they must have given promises on the way in. And I said before, there's a bulldozer that needs to go through that dressing room and he's the bulldozer.

8:04yeah

8:05Gary Neville:what's he going to do with his captain Van de Ven I'm sure there'll be a lot of clubs after him yeah there's big decisions to make at this football club and he'll have decided already in his first four or five weeks what he wants and what he needs to remain from the current dressing room and the current squad but I actually had a fascinating session going back maybe seven, eight nine years maybe ten years now with Maurizio Pochettino when they just built the training ground and we were with England and I was assistant coach under Roy Hudson and I always remember and I'm not going to go into the detail of it but when he first came in he shifted a load of players he had a group of players that were on the board which were his squad and he shifted a load to that side of the board and they were the players he wanted to keep and then he shifted a load to that side of the board he said I've got to get rid of them seven or eight there and De Zerbe's going to have to do something similar.

8:56Gary Neville:Be really cold, be really ruthless, really harsh. He's got instinct, he's got experience. He's not someone who's going to mess around anyway. He doesn't need me to tell him what to do, but I think he's got strength now and he's got power now and he's got authority now with this sporting director and the ownership and they've got to go with him. If they don't go with him, yeah, he will. He's the type that won't accept it and he'll just be off. He'll say, do what? so positivity in north london if we turn our attentions to east london west ham were the ones who although winning on the final day fell short a disastrous season for them and you fear for what the direction is at a stadium that the fans don't love a board certainly where there's a massive disconnect between the the support you know they moved to that stadium being promised the heights of european football they did win a european trophy three years ago and now they're back in the championship for the first time in 15 years.

9:49Gary Neville:Yeah, and because of, I think, Tottenham and the situation and predicament that they've been in this last month, almost West Ham have been part of it, but they've not been part of it to the extent as they would have been if they'd been going for it with the Burnley or Wolves or Sunderland, or Leeds, you know, a club like that. Those clubs have done brilliantly well, two of them, to stay up this year. Sunderland, when I look partway through the game, by the way, and I'll have a look again now, Sunderland was seventh. Sunderland are in Europe for the first time in 52 years. Wow, what an achievement.

10:14They finished seventh. We'll come on to that later. Brilliant.

10:17Gary Neville:Did they finish seventh then in the end? Yeah, they finished seventh in the end. Absolutely brilliant. Well, well done to them. The one thing that I didn't want this season, amongst many things, I wanted a different champion because I felt it was good for the Premier League that, you know, you get different champions that haven't won it for a long time and Arsenal have done that. I thought it was good last year that Crystal Palace won a trophy, that Tottenham won a trophy. And it was essential, Bill, this year, essential that the same three teams didn't go down or else we were going to get to a point whereby the parachute payments just completely and utterly doping the championship and then obviously you know coming back up again it's just you know it's just three up three down same every single year so what Sunday and the Leeds done this year is really important but for West Ham but they're a club West Ham are a club and there are a few more you know we've seen Villa we've seen Newcastle now Tottenham didn't go today that would have been the biggest story of all we've seen Leeds United we've seen Nottingham Forest we've seen Sheffield Wednesday these were stalwarts in my opinion of sort of what would be the old Division 1 when I was growing up It's unconceivable that these clubs couldn't be in the Premier League, but West Ham are one of those clubs, along with the likes of Wolves, Newcastle.

11:22Gary Neville:There's no club safe, really. There's about eight of them that are probably, I think, OK. We thought these were one of them, by the way. But the rest of them are all susceptible. Crystal Palace, Brentford, Bournemouth, at some point, Brighton, they may not recruit as well. They may just not do it as well as they have done because they're having to fight for their lives every single year to recruit well and get good managers in and they've done that really well. But for West Ham, they're one of those clubs that are always susceptible to some poor decisions and they've gone down this year and they're a huge footballer.

11:53Gary Neville:But that stadium, to be fair, Bill, I mean, what's it like to commentate at? It's the one ground that I get sent to that I think, you're a mile away from the pitch. Well, it remains, although they've done what they can, it remains an athletic stadium. So you've got a great view of the finish line for the 100 metres. You have. I'm not so good at the pitch. I know, and I'm way back there. It's the only ground where, to be fair, I feel like I need to take binoculars. So, you know, it's that old sort of, if you say, athletic stadium. Many of them exist in Europe, but a football stadium in this country, they're very unique.

12:28Gary Neville:You know, you're on top of the touchline. The old dugouts overhung the pitch, you know what I mean? You're right on top of each other in Upton Park, obviously famously. But, you know, it was right that West Ham moved, but what they're going to have to do is somehow adapt that stadium. And I don't know how they do that. I mean, I have no idea. In terms of the squad, do you foresee... I mean, Jared Bowen, obviously, who's been the heart and soul during the recent Premier League years. Would he stay? I mean, last time they went down, for example, they kept hold of a lot of players. Sam Allardyce got them back up and they bounced straight back, even though it was Varda playoffs.

13:02That was about 14, 15 years ago. Can you see the same thing happening? Or is there a squad that's going to be ripped apart? Is Nuno going to stay? Well, that's the first thing.

13:11Gary Neville:Forget the player, the manager. The manager and Bowen are the two most important figures and I think they've got to lock that in quite quickly. I'd be amazed if West Ham's ownership haven't put a huge incentive forward to Nuno to stay. And that would be announced, I think, in the next... If they were going to be smart in the next 48 hours, Nuno stays for next season. That's your first headline. By the end of the week, you'd want to try and lock Gerard Bowen in if you could and sort of give him a big contract to stay, which is difficult because they're going to lose a lot of revenue next year that then stabilises the dressing room potentially and stabilises the stabilises the crowd and the fan base somewhat from where they'll be tonight which is absolutely desperately disappointed and shocked and devastated but you need those two are really important and lock those in but you've also got Somerville you've got Sochek you've got Fernandes you've got I like the two centre forwards Castellanos and Pablo I think they're a handful so I think there's some players there that would be sought after by other Premier League clubs.

14:09Gary Neville:But I think if you're West Ham, you're a big enough club, you've had enough years of Premier League revenue, you've had some European success, where I'm not sure financially is beneficial for them, but yeah, it's about stabilising beyond this. They've probably planned for it now for a number of weeks. You'd have to financially, but also from the point of view of resource and personnel. And it's important that they get some good PR messages out there quite quickly. So that's the relegation issue. at the other side of things, which we touched on briefly, the European places. Villa produced a performance and a result today, winning at Manchester City and Pep Guardiola's final game of the champ.

14:49Villa 1-2-1. Oli Watkins in good form. I think he got a couple of goals there.

14:53Gary Neville:So they're fourth, Villa. They finished fourth. Villa finished fourth, Liverpool fifth. So into the Europa League go Bournemouth, who finished sixth. Sunderland, who finished seventh for the first time since they won the cup back in the 70s. and in eighth position and into the Conference League go. Let me just check here, Brighton. So Brentford miss out as they could only draw at Liverpool and Chelsea's disastrous season finished with another defeat and another red card. Wesley Fofana sent off for the second time this season. Xavi Alonso has a hell of a job on his hands to turn them around, doesn't he?

15:30Gary Neville:Yeah, I mean, we've just talked about what the Derby has to do here. Yeah, Jarry Alonso has to do exactly the same there at Chelsea. I mean, he's been made the manager. He may as well have been called sporting director, manager, owner of the lot. I mean, just give him the keys to the club and sort it out. Sort it out, my friend, if you can. We're struggling. Yeah, I mean, what a disastrous season for Chelsea. Incredible for Sunderland. Bournemouth again. Brighton. I mean, serial overachievers, Brighton and Bournemouth, year in, year out, and Brentford as well, obviously. Sunderland, magnificent that they've got into Europe.

16:06Gary Neville:That's something that's not happened for quite a while where a team's come up and done so well. Villa, incredible Unai Emery. What a coach. I thought they were sort of faltering for a period after Christmas. It felt like they were just sort of going through it and they ended up winning the Europa League and now finishing fourth place in the league. It's a massive, massive achievement. So well done. There's a number of clubs in that. Liverpool will be grateful, relieved. and a slot that they're in the Champions League hanging on in there at the end. But yeah, for Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford, Sunderland, incredible seasons, absolutely incredible seasons.

16:43And for Villa to go to Manchester City on Pep Guardiola's swan song and win there, just hours after finishing their open-top bus parade. That's seriously impressive. And also, I've stood out, Manchester United winning 3-0 at Brighton. Brighton had plenty to pay for. They could have ended up in the Europa League today, but Manchester United have gone there and won 3-0 and obviously the story there will be Bruno Fernandes as the all-time Premier League assist maker because he got an assist in that game.

17:08Gary Neville:Yeah, I did say last week actually after the United game against Forest at home that I thought that Michael Carrick would be right into them this week. Saying to them something like, this game next weekend when you're already secured in third will tell me a lot of what you're about. That there are 3 ,000 or 4 ,000 or 5 ,000 United fans travelling down to Brighton, 4 ,000, 5 ,000, 6 hours. And by the way, you better give a performance for them. So I think today was really important for Bruno Fernandes. It's an incredible achievement to overtake Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. Like I say, 21 assists is absolutely fantastic.

17:41Gary Neville:And a goal as well today. And a goal as well, yeah. I didn't know he'd scored, to be fair. I've been watching this game here. Who scored for United? Dorgou, Bomo and Fernandes. Yeah, and Bomo scored again. So, yeah, no, a really good finish for Michael Carrick. I think it was important that they didn't just go, we did it, look, we got third place. that would have been the wrong message to send, I think. So a really good day for Michael Carrick, a good day for Bruno Fernandes. A bad day, obviously, for Manchester City, but obviously we have to, in some ways, just bow to Pep Guardiola in terms of what he's achieved in the last 10 years.

18:14Gary Neville:Yeah, phenomenal. He's changed so much. And it'll be fascinating to see who goes in there, because that's quite a job, isn't it, to follow that. Enzo Maresca apparently groomed for that? Yeah, that's what we hear. I mean, firstly on Pep Guardiola, transformational period in the Premier League. Some of the things that we've seen over this last 10 years, we won't probably quite see again in terms of the points tallies that were being achieved over a sort of two or three, four year period. Four titles on the run, incredible treble achievement. A double this year, you know, a domestic cup double, not quite the double he would have wanted, but still winning trophies.

18:55Gary Neville:trophies, a serial winner on the brink of building another good team, very good team, I thought he might just stay another year to see it through you know there's just a bit of work to do on them isn't there, they've just fallen short at the end this year and will come on to Arsenal I'm sure shortly but the front four, Haaland, Dokou, Cherki Semenyo, obviously you've got Foden in there as well, you've got others so I think something really to go at, the centre back parts have been between Kasanov and Gaye with O 'Reilly and Nunes looks like it's starting to turn into a really good back four and then they just need to sort that midfield Rodri and Bernardo Silva are incredible players but Bernardo Silva leaves and Rodri is just getting to what would be the point whereby you're going to have to start to look at replacing if not already so two or three midfield players and Manchester City are going to be a formidable force but Pep Guardiola is worth, well we'll find out next season, so many points a season Sir Alex Ferguson was worth five, six, seven points a season.

19:59Gary Neville:How many points is Pep Guardiola worth? We know he's worth some. We just don't know how many, but we're going to find out pretty quickly. But it's been an exceptional ride that they've had Manchester City fans with him. A guarantee, as close as you can get as a guarantee. Gold when it comes to management. The equivalent of Sir Alex Ferguson, the two greatest managers, I think, in Premier League history. And I don't want to separate them because, like you say, they've both won trebles. I think Alex Ferguson definitely shades it on longevity in the Premier League but then you build in Pep's moments with Bayern Munich and Barcelona but you put in then Sir Alex Ferguson's time at Aberdeen, you're going to start this age long debate of who's the best but I can't separate them, they're both phenomenal managers and absolutely the best and it was good to see the other day that Pep Guardiola said that Sir Alex Ferguson had messaged him it would be amazing to see them having a conversation together about football yeah it would be that would be quite an interview wouldn't it yeah it would didn't he also say he would go out for a beer with you and Cara wasn't he asked Pep Guardiola well of course he's asked us many times during the last 10 years to go out for a beer look I mean to be fair we've yeah we've been I think we've eulogised over Pep Guardiola and Manchester City and their achievements in the last 10 years because you can't not because what we've seen is excellence we've seen elite football elite sport elite achievements I don't like it because I'm a Manchester United fan, but what you have to do is respect it enormously because it's hard to do what he's done.

21:27Gary Neville:And he's done it from a base. And look, Manchester City have spent a lot of money. We've still got the 115 charges, which I think should be mentioned, but not under Pep Guardiola. I think it was just slightly before him, was it maybe? Most of them, yes. Most of them were before him, so it's not really sort of to land on him.

21:48Gary Neville:but what he's achieved at Manchester City is absolutely breathtaking and yeah he'll be missed you miss characters like that because managers make this league a lot fans make this league the electricity of the stadiums make this league but managers are the next most set of important people because what the managers do is really give the players the ability to grow into superstars and give them that sort of what will be that that power that they have on the pitch the managers make that a lot I think managers to be fair contribute enormously to this league Yeah we saw with Jürgen Klopp didn't we how much he's missed in terms of his personality his duels with Pep Guardiola since he arrived and so on and so forth there's going to need to be it's going to be fascinating to see where it goes from there where the next sort of big rivalry is managerially and we will come on to Mikel Arteta but you're right Klopp, Mourinho, Conte Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger obviously Pep Guardiola these managers are giants and they have something they have an aura, they have something special about them and their presence is incredible for the game and so you miss them when they do go Pep Guardiola will be missed as a personality and a character across the Premier League If you listen very carefully you can probably hear the celebrations about 15 miles south of here as Arsenal parade the Premier League trophy at Selhurst Park.

23:14Obviously, they've got the Champions League final to focus on next weekend. But just a word on them getting across the line, the way they've done it, the celebrations and your overall thoughts on Mikel Arteta and the job he's done.

23:28Gary Neville:Yeah, this is the first time I've actually been on television since Arsenal won the league, obviously by City not winning at Bournemouth on Tuesday evening. a huge congratulations to Arsenal what a journey they've been on and they've got over the line and that is so bloody difficult to do you know they've been knocking on that door now for four or five years credit to the Arsenal hierarchy for building a plan for sticking with a plan credit to Mikel Arteta a game changer for him he's a champion he's a champion manager and it's great for him that he's won it in a season where Pep Guardiola is still here.

24:07Gary Neville:That means so much more. People, I'm sure, would agree with that because if he'd won it next season when Pep Guardiola had left, there'd always be a but, wouldn't there? Yeah, but you didn't do it when Pep was here. It's massive for these Arsenal players. It really, really is. When Declan Rice signed for Arsenal, you thought that was a final piece of the jigsaw and he's had to wait two or three seasons. but they've adjusted each summer to plug the gap that was missing the previous season and this season they've just articulated the squad I've got the style question I don't even want to go into it you win that Premier League I don't care how you win it I didn't care how Leicester won it I didn't care how Blackburn won it I didn't care how Chelsea won it under Mourinho sometimes it's just deemed as being a little bit dour or how we won it or how Pep Guardiola wins it If you get over the line in the Premier League, you over 38 games have stood that sort of what would be ultimate test of endurance.