Sky Sports' Geoff Shreeves has claimed that he was twice warned ex- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wanted to hit him following the Gunners’ infamous 8-2 defeat to Manchester United.
The Frenchman slumped to one of the lowest points of his career in North London as his side found themselves on the wrong end of a humiliating thumping - Wayne Rooney netting a hat-trick and Ashley Young scoring a brace, whilst Danny Welbeck, Nani and Park Ji-Sung also found the net at Old Trafford.
Shreeves was the man tasked with the responsibility of getting answers out of the Arsenal boss in the immediate aftermath of the encounter and found himself on the wrong end of Wenger’s fury due to his line of questioning - which the three-time Premier League winner was far from pleased with.
“I first interviewed Arsene Wenger when he joined Arsenal in 1996. We’d speak 30 times a season, over the 21 years he was in charge," the Sky Sports man, writing in his upcoming book 'Cheers, Geoff! Tales from the Touchline', said. “I know what makes him tick, he knows how I work but there are still moments when the relationship spills over into antagonism.
“After Arsenal had been beaten 8-2 by Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2011, there was no room for soft-soap questions — Wenger had to face an inquisition. I asked if he would resign and if he thought the board would back him. Brutal questions.
“I could see the anger building in his eyes and afterwards Arsenal’s head of media, Mark Gonnella said: ‘The boss has just told me he wanted to hit you during that interview, he was so angry.’
“Years later, Arsene told me: ‘Geoff, I wanted to hit you that day, it’s true. But you were not the only one — there were many others.’”
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Shreeves’ brush with Wenger was not the first time he unleashed the fury of a Premier League stalwart.
He also found himself on the wrong end of an expletive-ridden rant from legendary Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson after suggesting that Cristiano Ronaldo had potentially dived to win - and indeed score - a penalty.
Shreeves explained: "He [Ferguson] stood up for his players, as I discovered after an FA Cup win over Middlesbrough when Cristiano Ronaldo went tumbling to win a penalty. I asked Cristiano whether he went down easily. Ronaldo is pretty non-committal but says it was a penalty. I certainly wasn’t aware of the impending explosion.
"Sir Alex comes out of the dressing room and stalks straight towards me. 'You and your f***ing questions, you’re f***ing out of order,' he snarled. 'The boy hardly speaks English, you’re f***ing bang out of order', plus even more colourful language. 'Don’t talk to me like that,' I replied. 'I’m not one of your daft, young players'."
"That saw the Ferguson red mist turn deep crimson. He launched himself at me physically, with only United’s head of communications, Di Law, who jumped between us, preventing a full confrontation.”
