Medals not mantras

Merson: winning matters

I heard an email from a fan saying this is mumbo-jumbo until they win something. If you can't pass the ball from A to B and put the ball in the net on a consistent basis and you half-melt in big games, then I don't know what it means.

Paul Merson
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• Arsenal

Paul Merson says silverware is more important to Arsenal's development than psychology.

On the day that a confidential motivational briefing for Arsene Wenger's side was leaked in the press, the Gunners boss was preparing to field a side with an average age of under 19.

The memo, drafted by a sports psychologist, centred around the team ethic and positive attitudes and was given out the night before their 3-1 win at Bolton Wanderers.

But while Merson admitted that Wenger's impact has been "phenomenal", he believes medals and not mental mantras are the only way this young, unproven Arsenal side will get better.

"For the last three or four years we've been saying what a great team Arsenal are and what great football they play," he told Sky Sports News.

"And they do play football as well as anybody in the world. But if you don't win trophies, it's no good really.

"The way I look at it, teams and players need to win something as quickly as possible. People under-estimate how difficult it is to win the league championship, the FA Cup or the Carling Cup - it's very, very difficult. The quicker they win something as a team, the better they will be.

"Until then it's going to be difficult. We saw that last year when they went top of the league and had a real nice load of fixtures to play and didn't win one of them.

"Then they went to Tottenham and thought they literally mugged it off. They under-estimated Tottenham and didn't play a proper team instead of saying 'right, let's win a trophy and teach these young kids how to win and they can go on from there'. They didn't do that and got absolutely slaughtered."

Positive

Merson, who left the club at the end of Wenger's first season in charge revealed the Frenchman did not use such psychological tactics in his time at Arsenal.

But, he says, it makes sense for a manager intent on building for the future.

With en even younger crop of kids ready for another Carling Cup campaign, the one-time Gunner says it would not work on more established starts.

And that it will not work unless those youngsters can go on and win some silverware.

"We didn't get them when he first came in," he said.

"I can understand it now and I've seen the memo and sort of now know why he buys a lot of younger players that he can mould into that situation very early instead of buying someone who is 28 or 29 who hasn't been in that sort of situation.

"I know it's a team game but it is very positive psychological sort of stuff and if you haven't had it from a young age, if you're 29 it's going to be hard to grasp.

"It seems obvious but it went over my head. It does seem obvious but until they win something, I don't see what it does.

"I heard an email from a fan saying this is mumbo-jumbo until they win something. If you can't pass the ball from A to B and put the ball in the net on a consistent basis and you half melt in big games, then I don't know what it means.

"I honestly don't think it means anything."