Laura Woods has called out former Premier League manager Alan Pardew for ‘the most disrespectful thing’ she has ‘ever’ heard amid his criticism of Arsenal.
Pardew was assessing the Gunners’ chances of winning the Premier League this season after they moved seven points clear at the top of the table with their victory over Brighton.
Though they still have to play chasers Manchester City this season, who wins the league is now out of their rivals’ hands after they dropped points at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
They have, though, drawn widespread criticism for their approach to games, with a number of goals coming from set pieces and supposed dark arts having a huge part to play in their results.
Pardew, who was on commentary during the game for talkSPORT, suggested that fans will look down on Arsenal’s year and potentially not even judge a suspected title win with legitimacy.
The former Newcastle boss said: ‘When I look at them with my football manager head on, they’re very professional. They do every bit of gamesmanship to get it over the line.
Laura Woods has called out Alan Pardew over his criticism of Arsenal’s ‘asterisk’ title charge
Pardew criticised the Gunners’ approach to games during their win over Brighton
‘At the moment it looks like Arsenal are going to see it through. But there’ll be an asterisk next to their name.
‘It’s a professional, functional display. They’re good and powerful, but there is nothing beautiful about them.’
TV presenter Woods, however, who is an avid Arsenal fan, heard enough. The ITV and TNT Sports star called into her former employers to give her view – and tore into Pardew.
‘Alan, I love you but that is the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever heard,’ she said. ‘How can you say that? Because we take free-kicks, set-pieces and corners? I don’t understand the thought process.
‘If Arsenal win the league, none of us fans care how we do it. I don’t care if you lot don’t enjoy watching us. Why would we care if we’re entertaining or not?’
The comment from Pardew came after Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler refused to hold back in his post-match assessment of his side’s opponents.
The Gunners took more than 30 minutes to restart play overall in the game – their most this season – but ultimately took all three points courtesy of a goal from Bukayo Saka in the opening 10 minutes.
In extraordinary comments following their 1-0 loss, Hurzeler told Arteta he would ‘never be the kind of manager who tries to win that way’, accused the Premier League leaders of ‘making their own rules’, and criticised their time wasting in a 15-minute rant.
Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the game in a tie that drew criticism from Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler
‘There was only one team who tried to play football today,’ he said. ‘There was so many actions (of time-wasting). In the end, it’s about the rules. If the Premier League, the referee, allows everything, then it is difficult. They (Arsenal) make their own rules. At the moment I have a feeling that they do their own rules, no matter how they are playing.
‘Overall, I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way. I want to develop players, I want my players to keep improving and playing football on the pitch.’
Woods, meanwhile, has made no secret of her love for the Gunners, having embarked on her support thanks to her grandad – and once got into an argument with Oasis star Noel Gallagher due to her passion for the club.
Gallagher had called Arsenal fans ‘idiots’ and complained about the number of club fan channels, to which Woods replied: ‘You can call all football fans idiots, can’t you? They’re just passionate, aren’t they?
‘Noel, the reason they’ve got more fan channels is because we’ve got more fans, sorry. Mikel Arteta doesn’t need to tell his fans to liven up a little bit to get them going, I’m just saying, Noel.’
She added: ‘As much as I love you…’
After Arsenal beat Manchester City in the Premier League in 2023, meanwhile, she posted on X: ‘Delightful.’
