'Discipline is not a problem for Arsenal': Ian Wright makes bold claim, as Gary Neville hits back with shocking red card stat

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: Arsenal's Declan Rice is shown a 2nd yellow card and sent off by referee Christopher Kavanagh during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC at Emirates Stadium on August 31, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Arsenal have already had three players sent off in the Premier League this season, but former Gunners striker Ian Wright doesn't believe it's part of a discipline problem.

Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba have all been given their marching orders by the referee this term in separate games, with those three matches all resulting in dropped points.

That means Arsenal are already four points behind league leaders Liverpool after just eight games, with Mikel Arteta and his team facing an uphill battle to try and get to the top of the table.

Arsenal don't have a discipline issue

Arsenal defender William Saliba receives a red card in the Premier League against Bournemouth

Saliba's red card against Bournemouth (Image credit: Getty Images)

But, despite having dropped seven points as a result of those three red cards, Wright believes it's an issue of naivety rather than an inherent discipline issue.

“Discipline is not a problem for Arsenal," Ian Wright said on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

"A bit of naivety in respects to what Declan [Rice] did or with what [Leandro] Trossard did kicking the ball away – they shouldn’t have done that but I’m not going with Arsenal having a discipline problem. Two years ago, we won the Fair Play Award."

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright looks on prior to the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester City and Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium on April 22, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

Wright claims Arsenal's problem isn't discipline (Image credit: Getty Images)

Though Wright's claim that Arsenal won the Fair Play Award is false, they did finish second in that particular table to Manchester City in the 2023/24 season and third in 2022/23.

Gary Neville was quick to argue against Arsenal's on-pitch manner in recent years, however, with the former Manchester United captain highlighting the Gunners' disciplinary record since Arteta took over as manager in 2019.

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“Arsenal have had 18 red cards in the period that [Mikel] Arteta has been manager compared to the next worst, which is 12," Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast.

"They’ve dropped points in three of those matches [this season] where they’ve had players sent off.”

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.