Arsene Wenger hits out at critics for questioning severity of touchline ban

Arsene Wenger believes that any punishment meted out to him would be lenient in the eyes of his critics, in the wake of pundits stating that the four match touchline ban meted out to him was way less than what he deserves. The Arsenal manager watched the Gunners demolish Southampton 5-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup from the directors' box after he accepted the FA charge for swearing and pushing the match officials in their 2-1 win over Burnley.

The Frenchman reportedly swore at referee Jon Moss after he handed Burnley an injury time penalty and also pushed fourth official Anthony Taylor when he asked Wenger to go down the tunnel. He will be off the touchline for Arsenal's next three Premier League fixtures against Watford, Chelsea and Hull City, with Steve Bould taking his place in the dugout.

"I do not want to judge the judges. I got a sentence and I decided not to appeal to just get this behind me. For those who don't like me, any sentence will be too lenient. They would like to put me in jail somewhere without any heating in the middle of winter – and that would still be lenient," Wenger said, as quoted by the Guardian.

The manager saw his team steamroll the Saints at a venue where the Gunners saw the beginning of the end to their title challenge last season following a 4-0 drubbing. A brace and a hattrick by Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott saw the Gunners cruise to the next round, giving the manager a selection headache ahead of their game against Watford.

"You look at [Lucas] Pérez and Walcott and Danny Welbeck, and I have Sánchez on the bench as well, that exceptional quality," Wenger aded.. "For a long time we have not had that offensive quality available. The problem will now be to find the right combination and use them well in games, without destroying the balance of the team."