Sky Sports pundit and ex-Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez need to take more responsibility for their teammates.

Speaking after the 0-0 draw with Liverpool, the former Man United man made it clear how he felt about the two star players, saying, “They’re fantastic players but do they take responsibility for their team-mates? No. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mesut Ozil take responsibility for the rest of his team. I’ve seen him have good games, where he passes the ball well, gets involved and gets assists but doesn’t get enough goals.

“Arsenal didn’t have their greatest game against Liverpool. More specially, our first half against the northern team was a complete shambles, particularly in defense.”

The former defender continued, “Alexis Sanchez is someone that plays in moments and is tenacious. If you look at that back six tonight, Cech is the only experienced one. The experience was in the front of the pitch, Olivier Giroud, Sanchez and Ozil – they’re not the type of players that will take responsibility for the players behind them.

“I was so surprised tonight at the poor quality Arsenal showed on the ball, they gave it away time after time.”

Admittedly, I’m not sure what Neville means by taking responsibility for other players. Does he mean that he wants them to bark orders? If so, fair enough, we could all probably do with being a bit more vocal. However, I don’t believe our situation is as half as bad as he’s trying to claim.

The pundit carried on, “I think Arsene Wenger has done an incredible job with that net spend.”

Neville continued, “Where I’ve got less sympathy is with the type of players that have been signed in that period.

“We’ve talked about those players like (Patrick) Vieira, (Emmanuel) Petit, Gilberto Silva, Edu, (Martin) Keown, (Sol) Campbell, (Tony) Adams, (Steve) Bould… all strong people. 

“All of a sudden, the type of signings between 2004 and 2009 – they’re certainly not the type of characters that you would want to win you a league.

“Powerful characters with strength that you want running through your team, whether it’s a Blackburn team or a (Manchester) City team with Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany.

“The profile of player has changed and the style has changed and that is where I have no sympathy, to be honest.”

Neville’s comments seem a little strange to me. No one is asking for sympathy and although I understand the need for leadership on the pitch, his views seem harsh and unnecessary in my opinion.

I’m also unclear on how not having a leader now has anything to do with our net spend over the last several years.