Neville claims Arteta no longer trusts forgotten Arsenal star

Gary Neville claimed that Mikel Arteta no longer trusts £34million summer signing Fabio Vieira after he failed to come off the bench during Arsenal’s goalless draw against Newcastle.

A resilient display from the Magpies brought an end to Arsenal’s 11-game Premier League winning streak at the Emirates Stadium.

And while Arteta cut a frustrated figure at full-time, exasperated that his side had not been awarded a pair of penalties, the Gunners remain eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Indeed, Arsenal are undefeated in their last 11 league encounters, though they still have to take on defending champions Manchester City home and away.

Gary Neville on Fabio Vieira

Arsenal struggled to open up a dogged Newcastle side who are hoping to earn a Champions League place this season.

The Gunners were camped outside Newcastle’s box for large periods of the game but failed to unpick a well-organised defence. In turn, eyebrows have been raised over Arteta’s decision to not deploy another creative midfielder to inspire a breakthrough.

Vieira, who cost the club £34million last summer, was an unused substitute for the second game in a row, having not featured in the club's 4-2 win over Brighton on New Year's Eve. Meanwhile, Vieira played less than five minutes against West Ham on Boxing Day.

While on commentary Neville suggested that the Portugal midfielder's sparse involvement stemmed from his manager's lack of faith in him.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: "Arteta, he looks at £34 million Vieira on his bench and doesn’t bring him on, so he doesn’t have faith that he’s going to improve the team that was out there.

"Fabio Vieira cost £34million. Mikel obviously thought he would’ve weakened the side by bringing him on.

"They do rely on the perfect pass and the thread, they haven’t got full-backs that deliver really good crosses, they haven’t got a midfield player that switches play or plays De Bruyne-style crosses.

"They’re always relying on the short bits of play around the box, which Newcastle to be fair defended so well and so resiliently and so compactly, made it so difficult for them, and they didn’t have another plan off the bench."