Wenger dismisses Neville jibes

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was on the receiving end of a brutal verbal attack from former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville on Monday.

The Arsenal boss also admitted after the game that his side’s start to the season has been “average”, which will come as a huge disappointment as he spent most of this summer emphasising the need for his team to start quickly if they are to launch a serious push for the Premier League title.

Neville blasted Wenger and some of his players during a segment before the match, in which he blamed Wenger’s decision not to sign strong, physical players to complement his stars as a reason the club hasn’t won the Premier League title in over a decade.

‘It’s either arrogance or naivety, ‘ he proclaimed.

He added: “Everybody has their opinion and everybody is entitled to have an opinion. It is misheld belief”.

“I can’t think of a word to describe that bunch – I could but it wouldn’t be usable on television”, Neville said.

‘(It’s) Certainly not what I would call what you want to win you a league. I leave judgement to everybody else, the assessment of the quality of my work. The profile of players completely changed and the style has changed and that is where I’ve got no sympathy.

‘I could prove to you that it’s not necessarily right, but let’s not go into that debate tonight.

“I think they are good players, Cazorla is fantastic to watch”.

Wenger shrugged off the comments after his team managed a clean sheet against Liverpool. You find all kind of attributes for me since I’ve been here.

“Look, I don’t know what that has to do with arrogance”, said the Arsenal manager.

Alexis Sanchez is someone that plays in moments and is tenacious.

Overall a draw was the right result, but Liverpool – who were without the injured Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana – will derive the greater satisfaction from the result, with the Reds still unbeaten after their opening three games of the season and yet to concede a goal. First half in particular we created chances and should have been in front.

Arsenal, who last won the league in 2004, have not scored in five of their last six home games.