Harry Redknapp Is A 'Better Tactician Than Arsene Wenger,' Says Paul Merson

Harry Redknapp has been branded as a "tactically" better manager than legendary former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

That's according to Paul Merson, who played under both Redknapp and Wenger in his football career.

The 52-year-old retired footballer, who spent 12 years at Arsenal, only played one season under Wenger's reign at the Gunners.

Merson would be moved on to Middlesbrough in 1997, but the TV pundit would work with Redknapp when he signed with Portsmouth in 2002.

The former Arsenal man has now explained why Redknapp was the best man-manager he played under ahead of Wenger.

"One hundred per cent, best man-manager I've ever worked under, by a million miles," Merson told Sky Sports.

"As a man-manager knowing what you want or what you need, you could tell him what you need, he wouldn't tell you what you needed. I think that was a massive thing with him.

"The thing with Harry, people think, 'Oh, he's a wheeler-dealer' [...] his knowledge of football is second to none.

"I honestly think he's tactically better than Arsene Wenger, in my opinion. I worked under both.

"Tactically, if I know a manager who wants to set up, make sure we don't lose a game and stop the other team playing... for me, Harry is the man.

"He's with George Graham, that sort of [level]. Arsene Wenger, he had some unbelievable players.

"When you've got Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, [Robert] Pires, [Patrick] Vieira, [Emmanuel] Petit, [Marc] Overmars and [Freddie] Ljungberg... if I'm the manager of Arsenal, I'm opening the football match up!

"I want the game to expand, to go end-to-end because if it does, there's only one winner. That's Arsenal because of the players I just reeled off.

"But when you've got a manager who hasn't got that quality of player and you've got to set up, that's why I think Harry is a phenomenal manager.

"He put a team together, he pulled players into certain positions and it clicked. I played in a phenomenal football team."

Redknapp, who won I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2018, has been out of management since he was sacked at Birmingham City in 2017.

Meanwhile, Wenger hasn't been in management since he called it time on his illustrious 22-year reign at Arsenal in 2018.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Harry Redknapp, Football News, Football, Paul Merson, Arsene Wenger

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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