The Wolverhampton Wanderers chief executive Jez Moxey has launched an amazing attack on the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after he defended Jack Wilshere’s over the top tackle on Nikola Zigic at the Emirates a few weeks ago.

Wenger said that it was just a mis-timed tackle and there was no malice in it at all, but Moxey thinks that is exactly what every other manager says!

“It is absolute nonsense. All he said was exactly the same as every other manager.

“Yet he is one of the first managers to moan, complain and bitch about it when it happens to one of his players.”

“He should keep his mouth shut, play the game, play aggressive and let everybody play because Arsenal players are going to make similar tackles.”

Moxey is talking about this now because Arsenal are set to face Wolves on Wednesday, but as he is bringing up old news, perhaps he should read what Wenger said after the Wilshere tackle, when he said that he still wanted fairer play, whether the fouls are committed by his players or other teams.

“You say to me I should rather shut up?” he said.

“I believe still that what I said is right. If it concerns one of my players, it’s still the same. We’re here to make sure football is played in the right way.

“I don’t say we’re untouchable and that we don’t make mistakes, because we make them as well. But overall I believe we commit very few fouls in the game and we try to play in a fair way. When we make a mistake, we come out and say sorry and we won’t do it again.

“I have no paranoia feelings at all. I think to live in a big club you are more highlighted than other clubs and you have to live with that. As well you have to take a big enough distance to feel if it is true or not.”

Well next Wednesday we will be able to see who is a dirty team at first hand. Wolves or Arsenal?

Arsene Wenger has had many (justified) complaints about international football disrupting his players and domestic preparations (Arsenal do seem to have a disproportionate amount of injuries while on international duty!) and believes that the football played in the Champions League is of a much higher quality than that played in the World Cup.

“I don’t deny the World Cup of football is a fantastic thing but you have to rise above just judging the quality of football,” said Wenger. “Today the best Champions League clubs are a selection of the best players in the world and a national team is a selection of the best players of the country.

“Yes, the World Cup matters because it’s still a football meeting that everybody enjoys for different reasons than for football. There is national pride, there is a moment when the whole world of football gets together.

“But the pace in the national teams is not as big as in the clubs because players are not used to playing together. As well the pressure in the countries is so big now that the teams play not to lose more than to win.”

Iinternational breaks are always a worry for Arsenal fans as they await the usual bad news about injuries when the players come back. Perhaps we can see Robin Van Persie play this weekend before he goes off to play for Holland next week!

I saw an interesting statistic the other day that said that Van Persie has spent twice as long on the pitch for Holland in 2010 than he has for Arsenal! Who pays his wages again?

So Wenger thinks that something must be done, even if they have to close down the domestic competitions for a month so that all the international matches could get played at one time.

“A change certainly cannot be avoided,” Wenger said. “You have to re-think, it is not natural that as a club manager you look always that you do not want your players to play for the national team. I am basically happy and proud that I make a player an international player.

“You always fight a little bit for the interest of your club and it is most of the time conflicting with the national team schedule.

“It would be better that you say ‘OK for one month they are yours and play your games’.

“For example we have in the next international break England v France, the players will turn up on Monday and what can they do on Monday? Nothing. Most of them have played on Sunday and then Tuesday is the day before the game so they can do nothing.

“So they play the game on Wednesday and then they go home again. The manager doesn’t have time to get a feel for the players and to know the players better, I don’t see what kind of benefit it has for the manager.”

He certainly has a very valid point, don’t you think?

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has been included in today’s squad to face Newcastle, according to Mirror Football.

Vice-captain van Persie took part in his first full training session yesterday since injuring his ankle against Blackburn Rovers in August and is a surprise inclusion for the Premier League clash at Emirates Stadium later this afternoon.

The Gunners also have skipper Cesc Fabregas available again after the Spain midfielder did not travel to Shakhtar Donetsk because of a slight hamstring strain, while Andrey Arshavin (virus) and Alex Song (calf) are welcome back into the squad.