Paul Merson now tends to make a career out of his controversial opinions as a pundit.
The former forward, who spent 12 years as a professional with the Gunners between 1985-1997, recently suggested that his former side will ‘rip Tottenham to shreds’ this Sunday in the North London derby, predicting a 4-1 win for Unai Emery’s men.
Both sides suffered their first Premier League defeats last weekend, and a win for Arsenal will hand them a five-point gap over their local rivals after just four league games.
Pochettino has now hit back at Merson, with the Argentine sarcastically insisting that he would love to play against the former Arsenal man so he could ‘kick him’, as reported by Daily Hotspur.
Twitter: Mauricio Pochettino: “I would love to play against Paul Merson, so I could kick.” #thfc (@Daily_Hotspur)
And these Arsenal and Tottenham fans were quick to reply to Pochettino’s comments, with many joking that he’ll have to join the back of the queue.
Twitter: @Daily_Hotspur Wouldn’t we all (@Alderweireldx)
Twitter: @Daily_Hotspur There will not be a tweet today that will top this one.
(@Freddie_LR)
Twitter: @Daily_Hotspur There’s a queue. A very long queue. (@teadrinker68)
Twitter: @Daily_Hotspur Well my respect for him increased massively (@AhmedBosha10)
Twitter: @Daily_Hotspur @OllyMarks Wouldn’t we all (@tommyc1882)
Twitter: @Daily_Hotspur I mean on behalf of most arsenal fans, please do (@Skarmory93)
Read Arsenal verdict
If the pair ever agreed to a charity match on opposing sides, they’d more than likely come up against each other, with Pochettino a former centre-back and Merson a former forward.
It would certainly make for brilliant viewing, but we don’t think Merson will be agreeing to face Pochettino anytime soon.
It appears as if some fans from both sides of North London aren’t too keen on Merson either, but that won’t stop him from coming out with more bold predictions regarding the two clubs as the season goes on.
