BBC Pundit: Worrying Thing A Former Arsenal Star Told Me About Wenger

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Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy says that Arsene Wenger needs to get angry with his players whenever they perform badly, just like Alex Ferguson did in his days at Manchester United.

Murphy after the Gunners consecutive losses at Goodison Park and the Etihad has revealed that an ex Arsenal player told him that Wenger is the type who fails to put fear in his players after a defeat.

This calmness according to Murphy will in no way help the team progress, instead, it will make the players over-relaxed at the expense of team success.

“If you are scared of how a manager will react to a defeat, it can improve your performance", he said in his column for the London Evening Standard. "I wonder if Arsene Wenger is getting as angry as he might do when Arsenal play badly."

“I spoke to Mikael Silvestre, who played under Wenger, on a radio programme. He said that even after a poor game, Wenger would not dig players out or get after them.

“Though I did not play for either manager, I would suggest Wenger’s anger is nothing like what Sir Alex Ferguson’s was. It wasn’t just Sir Alex, either. During my time at Liverpool, Gerard Houllier didn’t get angry very often — but when he did, you knew about it. It was the same with Roy Hodgson at Fulham.

“There is as much talent at Arsenal as at any Premier League club, so you have to ask whether their mindset is right. When they are leading, do they take their foot off the gas? Are their tactics correct? Most importantly, how much does the manager talk to his players about these things?

“Arsenal’s defeats at Everton and Manchester City were worrying. When they took the lead, why didn’t they play at the same tempo? Were they scared of having the lead?

“You have to ask whether Wenger is capable of doing what Jose Mourinho did for many years. If Mourinho’s team were leading, he’d have no problem replacing an attacking player with a defensive one. He would think, ‘just get the game won… who cares how it looks?’