Wenger puts Merson in his place: well, that was hardly difficult, was it?

Arsene Wenger has finally hit back and put Paul Merson in his place.  I mean, come on, the lad’s there to be batted down every week.

The gift that keeps on giving, Mr Merson himself, was issued a sharp response from the Arsenal manager today as he took exception to the Sky Sports pundit’s suggestion that the Gunners were tactically clueless after letting slip a 3-0 lead during the week.

Ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Swansea today in Wales, Wenger branded Merson a joke and quipped on their own player-manager relationship.

‘These debates that I hear are a joke, a farce,’ Wenger said. ‘People who have managed altogether zero games, they teach everybody how you should behave. It’s a farce.

‘If I really cared, do you think I would have survived for 18 years?  Honestly, I cannot even be upset about it. It does not matter to me. You say what you want. You are free.  I managed Paul Merson … I tried. I’m not interested in him.’

In fairness, it’s difficult not to take up Wenger’s side with this one.

After all, the Arsenal boss is fluent in six different languages.  Merson, meanwhile, is still trying to invent his own.

Wenger can also count his accomplishments, he can look back over a prolonged career at the top and smile.  The main thing is though, he can count.  Merson is giving it a stab in fairness.

The Soccer Saturday *cough* analyst lambasted Wenger’s football knowledge.  That’s right, Merson questioning Wenger’s knowledge when it was only a few months ago that Paul’s incredulous transfer suggestion had even Phil Thompson raising an eyebrow.

This could all just be a misunderstanding, of course.  After all, Merson is still trying to finish his point.

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10