There are very few players whose careers have been as eventful as Paul Merson. Voted PFA Young Player of the Year in the same season Arsenal historically won the league at Anfield in 1989, he went on to secure a quick-fire second league title in 1991 before helping George Graham’s Gunners consolidate their identity as domestic and European ‘Cup Kings’ with wins in the FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup..
Troubled off the pitch by alcohol, drug and gambling addictions, Merson was the first player of his generation to publically seek help for his problems and made his comeback to first team action in 1995 after a three month stint in rehab. In possession of flamboyant skill, a deceptive turn of pace and an eye for spectacular goals, he maintained, and arguably enhanced, his status as a fan favourite throughout his career with a down-to-earth persona and famously cheeky grin.
Experiencing a season under new coach Arsene Wenger, the ‘Magic Man’ eventually left boyhood club Arsenal having been lured by a lucrative contract from Middlesbrough. Helping Boro to the Premier League, the attacking midfielder completed his renaissance by featuring for England at the World Cup in 1998 and even managed to score in the penalty shootout against Argentina.
Fondly remembered by fans at Aston Villa and Portsmouth where he later had stints, Merson cut his teeth as a manager at Walsall before retiring to the comfort of the Sky Sports studio where he now provides comedic energy next to fellow Arsenal veterans Frank McLintock and Charlie Nicholas.
Sport.co.uk were privileged to catch up with the Highbury hero at London’s May Fair hotel to chat about the current circumstances at the Emirates Stadium, his views on Cesc Fabregas’ future, the strength of the Premier League and his decision to call time early on his career at Arsenal.
Celebrating at Wembley...the Merson way
It’s hard to get away from current events at the Emirates. Cesc Fabregas appears to be on the cusp of an Arsenal exit, what do you make of the situation and can you understand the timing of his apparent decision to leave?
You have to look at Arsenal who haven’t won anything in five years and haven’t looked like winning anything, so this type of situation is always going to happen.
Every time anybody has ever said that they want to leave Arsenal they have been allowed to leave the club straight away. There’s been no ‘you’ve signed a contract, you stay.’
I can’t see anything but him leaving for Barcelona; David Villa has just signed for them from Valencia so they are going to be an absolute force next season.
If Arsenal lose Fabregas and William Gallas walks away for free, the Gunners will have lost a lot of experience. Where will they stand going into next season and who would you like to see recruited?
The first thing is that if Fabregas is going to leave, he’s got to go before the World Cup to give Arsene Wenger six weeks to go and get a centre midfield player. If they get Yaya Toure as part of a swap deal plus a load of money, I think he’d be good for the Premier League, very good. He’s a terrific player.
They need a goalkeeper whatever happens...
David Seaman told sport.co.uk at the weekend that he rates Lukasz Fabianski quite highly and can see him challenging Manuel Almunia next season for the number one jersey, what do you make of that assessment?
Yeah?
I’m not a goalie...and David Seaman is one of the best goalies I’ve ever played with...but I can’t see that!
He makes too many mistakes for me. If you want to win the league you need a great keeper. Go back to the start of time; you name me a football team that has won the league with a goalkeeper who wasn’t very good. It’s impossible, you can’t do it – Arsenal need a goalie.
Fabianski’s not ready yet, he’s made too many mistakes in big games; not small little games when they are 5-0 up. That’s the worrying thing. They need a goalie.
Arsenal made use of an attacking 4-3-3 formation last year, do you think that such emphasis on going forward left the defence too exposed?
When they click, it’s great. We’ll be sitting around next season going mad about Arsenal when they have a good day and are on fire, but it just doesn’t happen all the time. That’s the worrying thing. I can understand the 4-3-3, they’ve got the players to make it work.
They do still need a couple of defensive midfield players, instead of just the one. Last year Song sat in front of the defence and everybody else went AWOl. Nasri never got back, Arshavin never got back, Fabregas was pushing forward – they were all over the place. If you get Yaya Toure in as well and another top drawer player they could be ok, but whoever they get to replace Fabregas is not going to be better than him. If you’re selling your best players and bringing in players who are lesser, how can you expect to improve? How are the fans going to react to that?
Merson in action under Wenger
Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are two young British talents who look to have a great future ahead of them. Obviously Ramsey is injured at the moment but can you see them picking up the baton from Fabregas in the future?
They can’t do it tomorrow. In a couple of years I think Ramsey is going to be a real good player; assuming he comes back from his injury ok.
Wilshere is a decent player but he’s only young at the moment. He’s a luxury for me, you can’t really put Jack Wilshere into the centre of midfield at Arsenal and say ‘right all the best.’ He’s one of those players you want to bring in slowly and gently.
He did alright at Bolton but there was no real expectations, when you win, you win...if you lose it’s not the same as if you’re playing for Arsenal and you lose at Old Trafford – there’s a pressure difference. He will be a good player but I don’t know what his best position is, he’s a free spirit, you just want him to do what he wants on the ball.
Looking around the rest of the Premier League, the likes of Spurs, Manchester City and Aston Villa have really closed the gap on the so-called ‘Big Four’ – is this a sign of a stronger league or are the established big guns getting weaker?
Well Manchester United miss Ronaldo; if he had stayed they would have walked away with the title. The lesser teams are certainly more confident at having a go at the top teams. Over the years people went to Old Trafford or to Highbury and they just sat back and waited to get beaten hoping not to get too hammered. Now people go away from home and think ‘we can beat Manchester United, we’ll have a go.’ That’s why they lost as many games as they did this season.
Everybody is going on about what a great team Chelsea is since they won the Double, but they lost seven football matches; great teams do not lose seven games out of 38, they just don’t do it. There is room for improvement amongst all the top clubs, you certainly don’t look at next year and think it’s a foregone conclusion that Chelsea will win the league.
Arsenal need to buy players though otherwise they’ll miss out on the Champions League next year and the year after. If that happens we are talking major, major trouble. That team of 2004 was probably one of the greatest teams you’ll ever see playing Premiership football...ever! Since that team was broken up in the click of a finger, they’ve struggled to recover and haven’t won anything since.
Harry Redknapp has had a great year with Spurs. You played under him at Portsmouth, was he one of the guys who inspired you to test yourself as a manager?
Not overly. I’d always wanted to be a manager from about the age of 28. I knew nothing but football; I’d learnt nothing at school and always wanted to carry on. I worked all my career under good managers; George Graham, Arsene Wenger, Bryan Robson, Harry Redknapp - they were all top drawer in my opinion. But working under great guys doesn’t make you a great manager yourself, they’ll tell you that as well. It’s all about the players you’ve got. Don’t get me wrong I was useless! I’m not saying I was any good...but having good players is important.
Celebrating at Anfield with Michael Thomas
What did you make of Tony Adams taking up a managerial role in Azerbaijan?
Shocked! Actually shocked ain’t the word...it’s not the word. I lost my breath; it took my breath away...
Have you spoken to Tony about the decision?
No. I really can’t in my wildest dreams see what he’s doing. I don’t see it...I don’t know. I don’t know if he wants to go and do there, what Arsene Wenger has done at Arsenal. No disrespect to Azerbaijan, but when was the last time you heard of a team from there?
I wish Tony all the best but I find the whole thing extraordinary.
Tony has regularly been spoken about as a possible future Arsenal manager. Do you think the club needs to be grooming someone from within in preparation for when Arsene Wenger decides to step down?
In my opinion I think the role would be perfect for someone like Dennis Bergkamp with someone like Steve Bould, who has been working with the Youth team, as his number two. Those two have been with Arsene since he arrived at the club; for me they’d be perfect.
Arsene might not go for a long, long time but I don’t know how far he can take them – it’s worrying that they don’t look like winning anything. On the first day of pre-season they write-off the Carling Cup straight away and they virtually write off the FA Cup , as we saw at Stoke this year. All you’re left with is the Champions League, which is difficult and the Premiership, which they haven’t seriously looked like winning.
Sooner or later you’ve got to turn around and start concentrating on the Carling Cup; it doesn’t matter if other people aren’t interested. Just win it. I’ve seen Alex Ferguson win it with Manchester United a few years ago after a couple of seasons without a trophy and he was on the pitch dancing up and down and everything. After that, they won another trophy and then another.
Those Arsenal players at the moment don’t know how to win anything; every time when they get to a certain level where they have a chance it all melts, because they’ve not been there and don’t know what to do.
You left Arsenal in 1997; can you clear up the reasons behind your decision to leave Highbury?
Arsenal offered me a four year contract but I got offered more money to join Middlesbrough. At the time, I was a young lad, 26, and I had a couple of problems...gambling problems and things like that. I left for the money, it was pure greed. I’m not going to sit here and say it wasn’t. I just couldn’t work out how a big club like Arsenal couldn’t match Middlesbrough, who at the time were a Championship team.
Drinks with Gazza at Boro
When you subsequently saw the apparent second lease of life afforded to a lot of your old teammates and the Double they won in 1997-98, how did you feel?
I was well pleased for them. I worked under Arsene for a year and he was phenomenal; he was so far ahead of his time. When he came in I just sat there and realised that’s why England could never win the World Cup; he was so far ahead of his time, it was scary! You kept thinking; if he’s like this how many others are there abroad like him? His ideas were extraordinary...
We got promoted that season [1997-98] at Middlesbrough and I was lucky enough to go to the World Cup so I was well pleased for the boys. The day we beat Oxford 4-0 to go up, Tony scored a worldy [sic] against Everton to win the league. It was perfect. I’m not one of those people who would wish badness on anybody.
When you left Arsenal you had scored 99 goals in total. Did you ever cheekily ask if they’d take you back and let you take a penalty so you could get your century?
I didn’t even know until I’d finished playing...and I missed a penalty or two in my career! It’s a shame because there aren’t many people in the history of the club who have reached 100, it would have been nice but I’m probably the only person who is sat on 99. I can live with that.
You played with a lot of great players during your career, who was the best?
Dennis Bergkamp, by a million miles. Personally I didn’t think a professional footballer could be that good. He was just absolutely phenomenal. His touch, his awareness...I honestly didn’t think someone could be that good.
Finally, as someone who played in the 1998 World Cup, how do you assess England’s chances as they prepare for South Africa this summer?
If you look at the group that England have been drawn in and then ahead to the last sixteen and the quarter-finals, then they should get to the semi-final. If we get to the semi-final anything can happen. It’s obviously a good team, we’ve got good players.
The back four is probably as good as anything in the world; Ashley Cole is the best left-back in the world, there aren’t many better than Johnson attacking from the right and when you look at the centre-halves, Ledley King, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, I can’t name any better players at the top of the game. At the back we’re alright.
We’ve got to sweat that Wayne Rooney is alright and that Gerrard turns his season around. For me Steven can be the best player in the world.
Then you’ve got to have a bit of luck, you need to get the decisions going for you. I personally think we can win it; it’s out of Brazil, Spain and England. I don’t see anybody after that.
Paul Merson is currently promoting lastminute.com’s summer kick off campaign. Visit www.lastminute.com/worldcup for more information.