Piers Morgan is not a particularly well-liked fellow.The former Daily Mirror editor come TV producer come rent-a-ranter is arrogant, inflammatory, intentionally controversial and seemingly completely oblivious to how annoying he actually is.Yet, you don’t become a pan-Atlantic media big-wig without something lively going on between your ears, and for all the stigmatism accompanying Morgan, he’s clearly a very smart man.And – as we’ll come onto in a moment – he was one of the first to voice concerns over the direction his beloved Arsenal are heading under their 20-year reigning manager Arsene Wenger.Following yet another underwhelming campaign in north London, which has witnessed the Gunners fail to launch a Premier League title bid once again, Morgan’s criticisms of the club are now practically mainstream opinion.We’re not too keen on giving the 51-year-old more airtime than he already undeservedly receives, but with that in mind, here’s a list of TEN times Morgan was completely right about Arsenal and their under-fire gaffer.
THE ARTICLE THAT STARTED IT ALL
“They’re physically small, emotionally immature, and psychologically fried,” Morgan wrote in 2008 as he took an anti-Wenger stance for the first time.
“With no leader like Adams or Vieira to guide them, and no older, experienced players to look up to, they don’t know what to do as the pressure intensifies, the fans get on their back, and the losses accelerate.
“Everyone is desperate to play us now, because they smell the one word that nobody ever associated with a Wenger-led Arsenal: fear. Once the toughest team in the Premiership, we’ve become a soft touch.
“And that, I’m afraid, is down to the manager. Wenger stood on the touchline for most of the second half yesterday looking like a Death Row inmate waiting to be taken to the electric chair.
“He looked angry, frustrated, careworn, and suddenly very old. I never thought I would say this, but I think it’s time Arsene Wenger and Arsenal parted company.
Now that’s just awkward…
THIS INCREDIBLE RANT
Morgan didn’t hold back after Arsenal were eliminated from the Champions League by an underwhelming Monaco side in 2015. This nine-minute rant touches upon practically every problem at the club.
Selling club
“That was always my argument against selling Van Persie,” Morgan told Bleacher Report in 2013 following Robin van Persie’s controversial transfer to Manchester United. “You just can’t sell your best players. It sends a message to everybody at the club that you don’t have the ambition to succeed. It’s a self-defeating tactic and it’s wrong.”
#Fanstoblame?
Morgan didn’t take too kindly to Wenger blaming Arsenal’s poor 2015/16 campaign on the ‘difficult climate’ at the Emirates.
CLASSIC ARSENAL FAN MENTALITY
Young lad plays well for half a game, Arsenal fans think he’s the next Messi.
LEICESTER CITY
Nothing Changes
“I dug out a column I wrote for the Mail on Sunday six years ago on Monday,” Morgan told his former employers The Daily Mail, in reference to the 2008 article we kicked off this slideshow with.
“It was a very contentious column at the time as I called for Arsene Wenger to go after we got hammered 3-0 away at Man City.
“It could’ve been written yesterday. All the things I said were wrong with Wenger then haven’t changed. He’s basically replaced world-beating, double-winning, invincible teams with players who are half the size physically and, in my view, have half the aggression and half the battle fight in them.”
“Tactically I think Wenger is shockingly naive now. My real issue with him is that Arsene Wenger was brilliant for eight years, absolutely brilliant. And the problem with being so brilliant then is that it’s bought him an incredibly long time of being mediocre.”
Arsene FC
GROUNDHOG DAY
“This HAD to be our season and what happened? We got beat by Leicester and Tottenham,” Morgan told talkSPORT last month.
“I just don’t see how any self-respecting Arsenal fan can defend Wenger for any longer. Who’s going to make him go? He’s got no intention of leaving, he’s [pocketing] £8m-a-year to come third or fourth for 12 consecutive years, and to be kicked out of the Champions League last 16 stage now for six consecutive years.
“Stan Kroenke, our billionaire owner, lives in Los Angeles where he’s formed an NFL franchise and he’s completely pre-occupied with that. He has no record of winning things with other sports franchises – he’s quite happy for Arsenal to continue to fail and qualify for Champions League football. We are now trapped in this kind of Groundhog Day hell that has no end!”
“The only way it ends for me is if Wenger – a man I’ve always respected – looks in the mirror and says to himself ‘is what I’m doing now to the benefit of Arsenal Football Club or to the benefit of my wallet and to Arsene FC?’ – which is what I think Wenger for years has mistakenly thought this club is.
“If he does that and falls on his sword, I will have great respect for him. If he limps on for another season, [with] another contract, I think his legacy will be destroyed.â€