Gary Neville defends Jack Wilshere over his anti-Spurs chants during Arsenal's FA Cup parade

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has defended Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, after he was charged by the FA for a foul-mouthed rant during the Gunners' FA Cup trophy parade on 31 May.

The England international, who has been with the Gunners since the age of nine, led the fans on an anti-Spurs chant during their second trophy parade in as many years to celebrate the 4-0 victory over Aston Villa.

The 23-year-old midfielder was cheered on by the fans of the north London club, but his actions, which earned him a slap on the wrist the first time around was not looked upon too kindly by the FA, who immediately charged the player with misconduct and slapped him with a £40,000 fine.

"Arsenal's Jack Wilshere has been fined £40,000 and severely warned as to his future conduct after admitting to a charge of misconduct," read a statement on the official FA website, as quoted by the Guardian.

However, Neville, who is currently a TV expert with Sky Sports and England's assistant manager, has backed Wilshere for showing passion for the club, and believes that clubs need more players with such passion for the team. Something he feels that footballers of the modern era have forgotten.

"When Jack Wilshere swore on a bus ride, I actually thought it was one of the best things I've seen from a football player in the past five or 10 years," Neville told Sport magazine, as quoted by the London Evening Standard.

"If I was a manager of players that all had that passion... All right, they'd obviously been out the night before."

"But the reality of it is we cry out for players to have passion, and yet we are quite critical of them when they display passion," the former United right-back added.