Paul Merson has named Harry Redknapp as ‘tactically better’ than Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger, having played under the guide of both.
The former midfielder is known for coming out with absurd comments, as well as predicting our side to falter on the regular, and I can’t help but feel somewhat offended by his latest comments.
Merson has tried to claim that former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was ‘technically better’ than Wenger, adding that the English boss was the ‘best man-manager I’ve ever worked under’.
“One hundred per cent, best man-manager I’ve ever worked under, by a million miles,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“As a man-manager knowing what you want or what you need, you could tell him what you need, he wouldn’t tell you what you needed. I think that was a massive thing with him.
“The thing with Harry, people think, ‘Oh, he’s a wheeler-dealer’ […] his knowledge of football is second to none.
“I honestly think he’s tactically better than Arsene Wenger, in my opinion. I worked under both.
“Tactically, if I know a manager who wants to set up, make sure we don’t lose a game and stop the other team playing… for me, Harry is the man.
“He’s with George Graham, that sort of [level]. Arsene Wenger, he had some unbelievable players.
“When you’ve got Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, [Robert] Pires, [Patrick] Vieira, [Emmanuel] Petit, [Marc] Overmars and [Freddie] Ljungberg… if I’m the manager of Arsenal, I’m opening the football match up!
“I want the game to expand, to go end-to-end because if it does, there’s only one winner. That’s Arsenal because of the players I just reeled off.
“But when you’ve got a manager who hasn’t got that quality of player and you’ve got to set up, that’s why I think Harry is a phenomenal manager.
“He put a team together, he pulled players into certain positions and it clicked. I played in a phenomenal football team.”
It’s hard to know where to start with this, but Merson really needs to hold more of that verbal diarrhoea inside.
Wenger didn’t the best team of players, nor did we have close to the squad limits or personnel of Manchester United in most years, but that didn’t stop him from guiding us to glory, and the fact that he denied any single team a win against us for an entire season shows he had the tactical nouse to counter-act what any team brought, as well as being able to change things mid-game.
I’m not even sure that Wenger needs defending as his record speaks for itself…
Did Wenger lack in any areas? To be fair I remember getting frustrated in the later years when we had to wait at least an hour before a substitution would ever be made…
Patrick
I hate merson more than i hate ashley cole,samir nasril put together
Goona, why do you “hate” any of these ex players? What have they ever done to you or your family?
ozziegunner,
I wonder at times if they know the real meaning of hate. The only things I really hated was Latin or worse still double maths at school
Mate loved Mers as a player but he’s gotta be one of most cretinous pundits out there. I really don’t listen to anything he has to say about tactics, strategy, signings, management only got to look at his 6 month spell managing in 2nd div where he royally crashed and burned big style… Good bloke to have a pint with but the above topics forget it utter cretin.
But, Stevo, what argument do you have to refute what Merson has stated as HIS OPINION of the managers he played under?
Well said Stevo 👍
I would suggest that Mr Merson still hasn’t got over being sold by AW – what other reason could there be for coming out with this statement?
I also find it so amusing that all those critics who knocked our club before our fourteenth fa cup win have suddenly gone very quite – just wish Merson would do the same.
I like Merse, he is a good bloke andxa laugh. If his opinion is that after playing under a few managers then whats the problem. Im sure that a few players have come out and said Wenger didn’t do tactics, he wasn’t ever known as a tactical genius, far from it. It isn’t a pull down by Merse, itsxan observation. Wenger for a few years didn’t need tactics, just a style and vision. It is a common theme among many people that when actual tactics were needed when things were tough, he fell down. Tactics are only part of a team makeup, that part was never a Wenger strength, unity and belief was. I dont think Merseyside is sour, ive heard him praise wenger for may other things, he is just having an opinion, having played under them. There may be a little bias because he is friendly with Redknap but he isn’t on his own with his view. Many more older players stated wenger just sent them out to “play”, it obviously worked.