Gary Neville believes the ongoing financial controversy surrounding Manchester City has had a negative impact on the club’s form.
Man City were found guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations in September, although the Citizens quickly appealed the bombshell verdict.
Enzo Maresca’s side have subsequently endured a poor run, losing their last three league matches, including a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday.
And with Man City now six points behind defending champions Arsenal, ex-Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp says the club are no longer title challengers.
Neville points to financial scandal
According to Sky Sports, former Manchester United defender Neville told NBC Sports: “Something’s just not right at the moment. Things point towards the obvious cloud hanging over the club.
“Is it finally catching up with them in terms of the mental fatigue of what would be negative publicity they’ve had on the players? Are they drained physically and mentally through that or are they just going through a bad patch?
“Either way, Maresca has got to sort it out quite quickly in the international break because that won’t be tolerated. Losing games like that doesn’t happen very often.
“If you lose a football match or two, then you can start to look at that as an excuse, but they’ve got to play better.
“They’ve got to compete in games. They’ve got to make sure that they do better on the pitch from a tactical and physical perspective.
“But I do believe it will be having some impact just because of the weight of what’s been hitting them from a publicity point of view in the last four to six weeks.”
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Redknapp backs Arsenal for title
Sky Sports pundit Redknapp, meanwhile, said of Saturday’s result: “That is a sore one.
“It gives you the feeling in terms of who can challenge Arsenal. I just don’t see one.
“Right now, the one I would point to is Brighton – and I never thought I’d be saying that at the start of the season.
“You’ve got William Saliba coming back for Arsenal. The players they have defensively, you will never see Arsenal looking as open as City looked.
“I don’t see anything other than Arsenal running away with it at this point. They are just so much better than everyone else in every single area.”
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