Gary Neville has hit back at Arsenal's detractors and claims the Premier League leaders have earned his maximum respect. The defending champions cemented their place at the top of the table following a narrow 1-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Victory saw the Gunners equal their best ever start to a Premier League campaign and with nine wins from 10 games they are already odds-on to retain the title they won back in May for the first time in 22 years. Despite their impressive form, Mikel Arteta's side have struggled to win the hearts and minds of neutrals given their reliance on an almost impregnable defence.
Defensive resilience and clean sheets
Arsenal have made light of William Saliba's absence with summer recruit Ezri Konsa filling in admirably since his £55million move from Aston Villa. Indeed, yesterday's win represented Arsenal's fourth clean sheet in a row and the eighth time they have enjoyed a one-goal margin of victory in all competitions this term.
'Their consistency,' Neville told NBC Sports when asked which quality above all others has impressed him about the champions. 'The way in which they all defend together, they all work for each other.
Neville's admiration for the champions
'There are a lot of comments about Arsenal around the fact they're not exciting, they're boring, they should do a lot more and be better going forward. But we criticise a lot of teams for being poor defensively and to win 1-0 is very, very difficult. It's the ultimate measure of confidence, concentration, focus and trust you have in each other.
'What they're doing right now is outstanding and I've got a lot of admiration for them. I've played in teams that have won Premier League titles and it was very difficult to play when you're 1-0 up. You're thinking and always balancing do we need to go and get another goal or do we just need to defend our lead.
'They always look in emotional control, they never get what would sort of be erratic. They are always composed and the admiration I have for them is huge.'
