by Nia Griffiths

Paul Merson joins the list of people who clearly barely watched us play last season but still, for some reason, feel the need to comment on how we performed.

Speaking recently, the ex-Arsenal forward spilled the beans on just how well he thought we played during our 2014/15 campaign and – shock horror – he wasn’t full of praise.

“Everybody said they played great football, but they played great football when the pressure was off,” he said. “They need to be playing big games under pressure, not when it is all over.”

 

I’m not entirely sure how we weren’t under pressure at the Etihad, when we beat Manchester City 2-0, or when we beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in order to retain the FA Cup for the second season running… but you carry on Mers’.

The pundit did allow himself to choke out a compliment about how we’ve handled our tight budget in recent years, saying, “When they moved stadium, I knew the purse strings were tight. They had to get back in order and get the stadium paid for. To stay in the Champions League so consistently that long is great. But that’s gone now. They need to be challenging. They didn’t challenge last season – not once.”

So, to sum up, Paul Merson thinks Arsenal should try to challenge for the title next season. Take notes Arsene Wenger, we could use this kind of critical thinking at the club.