Arsenal star Thomas Partey was ‘nowhere near it’ during the title run-in and lost his form at the most ‘vital time’ of the season.
That’s according to Gary Neville, who believes the Ghanaian’s loss of form was a huge blow to Arsenal’s title credentials.
The Gunners all but conceded the title to Manchester City on Sunday with a 3-0 defeat to Brighton at the Emirates.
That leaves Mikel Arteta’s men four points behind City with just two games to play.
Partey was in brilliant form earlier in the campaign, which helped Arsenal to a healthy eight-point lead over City as recently as six weeks ago.
But he’s been well below his best in recent weeks, which has seen City leapfrog Arsenal.
And Neville says Partey lost form at the worst possible time.
‘He’s been in a shadow of himself in the last few weeks, Partey,’ said Neville.
‘He has been nowhere near it. A large part of the season, he has been fantastic.
‘His form and composure have deserted him at the most vital time.’
Partey’s form has seen him lose his spot to Jorginho in midfield in recent weeks.
Though the Italian performed admirably against Newcastle last week, Arsenal were run ragged by Brighton on Sunday.
Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard admitted after the defeat that the club have ‘no’ hope of the title now.
‘It is going to be very difficult now, we have to be honest. It is tough to take,’ said Odegaard.
‘It is not a good feeling at the moment. The way we played, particularly in the second half, I don’t know what happened to be honest.
‘It feels like there is no hope now.’
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