Paul Merson

about time we had some respect on Merses name on here.

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Merson the player undeniable, Merson the pundit jeez :roll_eyes:

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Did Merson ever reach his full potential? I don’t think he progressed after that 90-91 season

Good question :grin:

He could have been a top European player and, although he was one of our best attacking players and played for England, it was drink and drugs that stopped him moving up to the next level.

He had skill, awareness, control, stamina as well as scoring and making goals so, considering he had problems with drink and drugs, it was amazing he achieved what he did.

He wasn’t the only player to have drink problems but he went too far.
He was an extremely good player and could have been elite but he certainly didn’t reach his full potential.

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He didn’t reach his full potential but he reached a very high standards.
Far higher than what we have seen than many who played in the last decade here.

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I think so. Had a great relationship with Smith too that season. Never replicated the 90/91, bit of a waste really.

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I really don’t think Merse gets enough respect from the younger generation of Arsenal fans, especially Twitter/Reddit fans who only know his name from Soccer Saturday.

Every clip I’ve seen of him and moreso everytime I talk to older Arsenal fans they moon over him as an absolute class act.

He really strikes me as the type of player I would have adored watching.

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The exciting thing about Merse was he was a flair maverick type player that really from the 70s onwards Arsenal had never really produced before.
Lots of teams had these sort of players over the years but we never really did.
Charlie Nicholas never really lived up too the hype but Merson just took his chance and it was thrilling for us too see someone like this.
A real game breaker Merse who backed himself. Best performance by an Arsenal player for me in a major final against Sheffield Wednesday in 93 LC final.

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Yeah he’s turned into a bit of a parody and sad enough he’s probably more remembered for being a drunk than for what appeared to be a extremely gifted player. And for saying outlandish stuff on SkySports.

Can’t say I had a chance to watch him at his peak but by all accounts and the glowing reviews on this forum from the older fans says a lot about him.

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This is why he was one of my favourite players in that Graham team.
He had flair in a side which was full of top quality players who did their job to a very high level but wasn’t always the most entertaining to watch.
Merson was a bit like Wright because he could change a game with a piece of brilliance and was an exciting player to watch.

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Wasn’t he still picked for the WC 98 squad despite being a footballer in a lower division?
Quality player.

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Yeah he was in the Middlesbrough side who won promotion that season.
For some reason unlike some with addiction Merse doesn’t seem to get understanding like some others do.
Probably the pundit stuff. Not all of it’s bad either imo.

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Especially this:

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The tone in which he says “what success?” always gets me, full of scorn and derision. The slight pause before he responds is also just beautifully done

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The tired tone just makes me laugh each time.
It’s a gem of a clip

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Brilliant player.

What we’d give for a player like Merse right now

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