Quote:
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger brands Paul Merson 'a joke' for his outspoken attack on club's defence
Merson, who is now a television pundit, had described Arsenal’s defending in the 3-3 against Anderlecht in the Champions League last Tuesday, when they surrendered a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3, as “tactically clueless,”. Wenger inherited Merson as a player when he took over at Arsenal in 1995 but sold him to Middlesbrough the following year.
The Frenchman hinted he had found managing Merson an exasperating experience. He said: “I managed him. I tried. I’m not interested in Paul Merson.”
In his criticism on Tuesday, Merson had accused Arsenal of being “like an under-12 team, all bombing forward.”
Wenger responded: “These debates I hear are a joke, a farce. People who have managed altogether zero games [Merson was briefly in charge of Walsall], they teach everybody how you should behave. It’s a farce.
“Honestly, I cannot even be upset about it. People criticise without any proven fact, just because they love to criticise. It’s much more about bitterness than any real objective facts.”
Oh dear Wenget :doh: