It’s fair to say that Gary Neville was not impressed with Arsenal’s performance in the League Cup final on Sunday. Nobody was ‘impressed’, per se, because their performance was objectively awful, but few outside the Arsenal fanbase were quite as enthusiastic in their disgust as the former Manchester United right-back turned pundit.

“In the minute before that goal [Manchester City’s third], I mentioned the walking of the Arsenal players, and then the retreating runs of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka, ambling, jogging back,” he said afterwards. “An absolute disgrace they are, an absolute disgrace. Walking on a football pitch at Wembley, giving up, spineless.”

Lack of spine

While this sort of analysis wouldn’t be out of place on ArsenalFanTV and is very much in keeping with the modern vogue for by-the-numbers ranting from pundits, Neville certainly has a point when it comes to Arsenal’s spinelessness.

While he is almost certainly right that there is a lack of attitude, character and commitment among senior players at the club – the motivation at Arsenal seems to have conspicuously ebbed away over the last couple of seasons, culminating in this weekend’s humiliation in what had previously been a last refuge, the cups – this is almost self-evident and certainly not news to the majority of Arsenal fans.

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The problem with the team’s spine is more worthy of discussion, though in a slightly different way to that which Neville intended. While he seemed to be suggesting that Ramsey, Xhaka and co. were literally without spinal columns, invertebrate jelly men without the ability to stand upright or physically play football, there is a fault line running all the way down the team’s metaphorical spine, too.

Though the position of central striker has been more than addressed in terms of recruitment – wildly so, in fact, with Arsenal having spent around £108m on two forwards in Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – whoever plays up top is likely to be let down by what’s behind them at the moment.

Though Mesut Ozil has the playmaker position wrapped up, not that he played too well against City, the spine of the team behind him is rapidly disintegrating. Arsenal still, after so many years spent discussing the position, have not solved their lack of a genuine defensive midfielder, with neither Xhaka or Mohamed Elneny an out-and-out holding player so much as a pair of midfield misfits with neither defensive nous nor attacking ambition.

Behind them, Shkodran Mustafi had a career-curtailing performance against City, his mistake for Sergio Aguero’s opener one of many over the past season and a half. Laurent Koscielny is ageing and has a chronic Achilles issues, Per Mertesacker retires at the end of the season, while neither Rob Holding or Calum Chambers look ready to take responsibility, making centre-back another huge problem position.

Then there is the nascent goalkeeping crisis, with David Ospina reminding fans of why he is a cup keeper at the weekend. Meanwhile, Petr Cech’s performances have been on a downward trajectory for some time, with the Czech stopper turning 36 in May and seemingly feeling the effects of time. From defensive midfield to centre-back to the man between the sticks, Arsenal are falling apart at the tailbone. Gary Neville is right about them being spineless, on more than one level.

Pathetic aesthetic

That wasn’t the end of Neville’s criticism, with another of his comments carrying a particular sting. “I have to say, I’m struggling to come up with words now to describe this Arsenal pattern, this ingrained, embedded pattern that we’ve seen,” he said.

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“I’ve not really liked their defending for a long time, I’ve not really liked their leadership, the character, and the spirit on the pitch, but you’ve always liked the football – I don’t even like the football anymore. The last bastion has gone.”

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Where once Arsenal could get away with underwhelming results on account of their beautiful aesthetic and style, they have never been more shown up for their descent into mundanity than when facing Manchester City on Sunday. Where once excellent attacking football and an incisive passing game were Arsene Wenger’s trademark, it was Pep Guardiola who masterminded a beguiling performance at Wembley. Meanwhile, Arsenal looked turgid, leaden and blunted, as hard to watch as they were hard to respect or admire.