Arsene Wenger has refused to accept Gary Neville's assertion that Arsenal's failure to sign 'players of power' was down to the Frenchman's arrogance.
Arsenal's 0-0 draw with Liverpool last night left them five points behind Premier League table-toppers Manchester City, leading to Sky Sports pundit Neville suggesting that a flawed transfer policy employed by Wenger was the cause behind the Gunners failure to win the title since 2004.
Arsenal vs Liverpool - player ratings
On Wenger's signings in that period, Neville said earlier: "They’re certainly not what I would call what you want to win you a league, the powerful characters, the strength you need running through your team. The profile of players completely changed and the style has changed and that to me is where I’ve got no sympathy.
The former Manchester United and England full back added: “I just cannot get my head around why he would not sign players of power to assist these talented players you’ve got to enable them to win the league.
"It is the one big, if you like, black mark against Arsène Wenger in these last 10 years: why he hasn’t identified an issue with these types of players [pointing to Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla] because they cannot win the league with those types of players. It can’t happen. To me it’s arrogance: to think that you are not going to adapt your team to impact on the other teams you’re playing against. It is either naivety or arrogance because they keep losing this way.”
When asked for his reponse to the comments, Wenger said: “I don’t know what that has to do with arrogance. I try just to do my job well for 20 years. I leave judgment to everybody else, the assessment of the quality of my work. Everybody is entitled to that opinion. I could prove to you that it’s not necessarily right but let’s not go into that debate tonight. When you don’t win, you’re wrong and people find reasons. Are they good reasons? I have enough experience to know when it’s right and when it’s wrong."
