Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson says he doesn’t see many differences between Unai Emery’s side and Arsene Wenger’s team last season.
Speaking on The Debate (quotes via the Sun), the former Arsenal midfielder said he is struggling to see the progress so far under the Spanish manager:
“I’ve watched Arsenal and if you didn’t know, you would still think Arsene Wenger was the manager. I watch Arsenal play and it’s like watching a testimonial or a charity match. The game’s open, no one’s really tackling anybody, it’s like, ‘you have a shot, we have a shot’.”
Fans on Twitter mostly disagreed with Merson:
I work hard for a living, and listening to Merson coming out with rubbish like this makes my blood boil. How is he even employed as a pundit!?
— Paul Wilkinson (@EPaulW) 4 September 2018
I guess he’s entitled to his opinion, but I personally disagree with it strongly. If he can’t see the differences he clearly needs a trip to Specsavers!
— Elaine Sharp (@sharp_eshar) 4 September 2018
Does anyone actually listen to him though?
— Matt Alexander (@Mattceps) 4 September 2018
Obviously Paul Merson hasn’t watched Arsenal this season, Unai’s team has way more intensity than Wenger lol
— ???????????????????? (@itskenri) 4 September 2018
We’ve been top in distance ran and number of sprints in matches this season! That is a huge difference from the last few seasons. Merson, unfortunately, seems to hold a grudge against the club these days.
— Dean Kirby (@deanowasthere89) 4 September 2018
So he hasn’t watched anything then
— Cal~ (@ApocalypseAfc) 5 September 2018
If Arsenal was still under Wenger , probably we would’ve beaten by City 5:1, ended up 4:0 at chelsea and 2:2 in Cardiff. But those doesn’t want to see the difference, they won’t. Arsenal players are fighting now, thts already a huge difference.
— Aubazette (@AubazetteAFC) 4 September 2018
While a few thought he had a point:
We’ve been top in distance ran and number of sprints in matches this season! That is a huge difference from the last few seasons. Merson, unfortunately, seems to hold a grudge against the club these days.
— Dean Kirby (@deanowasthere89) 4 September 2018
We’ve been top in distance ran and number of sprints in matches this season! That is a huge difference from the last few seasons. Merson, unfortunately, seems to hold a grudge against the club these days.
— Dean Kirby (@deanowasthere89) 4 September 2018
It’s too early to judge Emery on his time at the Gunners. He’s barely been in the job a few months, and it will take a lot of time on the training field to get players used to what he wants.
The adaptation process will take time, and there have been some small yet noticeable changes, including the attacking philosophy and the work rate of some players.
Yet, there is still a lot of work to do. The defence has certainly not improved since last campaign, while it’s hard to gauge how resilient this team is over a course of the season, despite promising signs versus Chelsea and Cardiff.
