Arsene Wenger has accused TV pundits of not doing enough research after Gary Neville’s stinging attack on the Arsenal manager.
In his role as a Sky Sports pundit, the England coach branded Wenger ‘arrogant or naive’ during coverage of the Gunners’ goalless draw against Liverpool on Monday night.
Wenger hit back yesterday, claiming experts are not doing the preparation to justify their assertions.
‘You know in football you have to accept that anybody can be right,’ said Wenger. ‘The only thing I want is that when people have opinions, it is documented and worked out before, especially when it is football specialists.
‘I accept you can be right and I can be wrong. But what you do not want is just an opinion that comes out just because you feel like that. I watch sometimes, the guy doesn’t talk about the game — he tells you his life and what he thinks about football.
‘At the end, I don’t know the players who have played on the pitch because the guys don’t comment on the game.’
Wenger, who has worked as a pundit in his native France, added: ‘I am not against opinion, people can say they don’t think Arsenal are good enough.
‘What is a concern is that it puts pressure on players. People who have been in the game, I love that they go on television, but what I would like is for them to help people to love football even more. The first mission is to educate people.’
Arsenal could be without centre backs Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny at Newcastle tomorrow lunchtime. Mertesacker has a chest infection and Koscielny has a back injury. – Daily Mail