Arsene Wenger
Reuters

Arsene Wenger has hit out at his detractors in the popular Match of the Day show, hosted by BBC, who have refused to consider Arsenal as serious title contenders in spite of their brilliant start to the season.

The likes of Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy have refused to cut the Gunners any slack, which has incensed Wenger who believes that his boys need some encouragement from the trio.

The Frenchman is an avid viewer of one of England's most famous highlights shows and insists that he does not pay much heed to pundits who cannot prove their claim.

The pundits have said Arsenal cannot win the title as they have not won anything in more than eight years, something which Wenger believes is more of an opinion than fact. The 64-year-old goes on to add that his players this season have the quality to surprise many and their position in the Premier League at this point is testament to the fact.

"Sometimes I watch it (Match of The Day), sometimes not. Sometimes it's just someone saying their opinion without an argument on something. That can make sense. But if it's something based on hate or love, or just gut feeling then I just say, 'Okay, it's an opinion - he might be right, he might be wrong.' Often, he [the pundit] doesn't sustain his opinion by some work he has done to support that argument," Wenger said.

"Of course (I have gleaned things from a pundit) - if you make an article tomorrow saying, 'I think Arsenal will win the championship because of that, this or that' or 'Arsenal will not win the championship because of something else. Look at these numbers or statistics, they always repeat the same mistake' or offer something that is in there.

"If you just say, 'Arsenal will win the championship' or 'Arsenal won't win the championship because they haven't won it for eight years', then I think it's just an opinion."

"When I arrived here, people explained I couldn't win the title as I am foreign. Everybody has their own logic. I just think you win the title through your quality. If we didn't win for eight years it is because we weren't good enough in the important moments of the season. We have a good opportunity to show we are good enough, so let's take it," he concluded.