Wenger Hits Back At Paul Scholes Says He Hasn't Managed A Game Before

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger slammed former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes' claims that the Gunners are "a million miles away" from challenging for the Premier League title.

The north London side's 6-0 humiliation at Chelsea last Saturday coupled with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Swansea on Tuesday night has left the Gunners six points behind the table-topping Blues.

In his role as a TV pundit, Scholes launched a fierce attack on Arsenal under Wenger, claiming they had "midfield players with no discipline" and adding that "there are no leaders" at the north London club.


However, ahead of the Gunners' game against Manchester City, Wenger hit back at the comments and said: "If six points [from the top] is a million miles away, then I don't know what the translation from a mile into a point is.

"Everybody has opinions, people who have managed zero games have opinions and we have to accept that.

"What you live with is what you do on the pitch, and all the rest is only opinions. We are in a society where there are thousands of opinions every day, and some go for you and some go against you. You have to live with that."

Wenger added: "We have not given up [on the title], believe me and we can show that on Saturday. It is our attitude that will decide that.

"Champions keep going when everybody else would give up. We have an opportunity to show that we have that mentality."

An Arsenal victory against Manchester City would send a timely statement to the rest of the Premier League after a difficult week and also put some distance back between themselves and fifth-placed Everton, who are six points behind and with a match in hand ahead of their showdown at Goodison Park next weekend.

Wenger said: "It is [a last chance to stay in the title race], but I believe that we have to keep going despite the past two negative results.

"If people say that Everton can catch us, that means we can catch the teams above us as well because they play against each other.

"It is the next game that is of course very important, and the next game is of massive importance because it is Man City and they fight at the top.

"They are the favourites with Chelsea and Liverpool, but when you play one of the favourites, you have an opportunity to shorten the distance to them."