• Martin O’Neill accuses Arsenal manager of hypocrisy
• Aston Villa manager taunts rival over 2006 Wigan loss

Martin O’Neill has reignited his feud with Arsène Wenger by strongly disputing the Arsenal manager’s claim that winning the League Cup does not qualify as a trophy and accusing the Frenchman of hypocrisy.

The Villa manager, who has lifted the League Cup twice as a player with Nottingham Forest and twice as a manager with Leicester City, reminded Wenger that four years ago he was so desperate to win the trophy that he picked his strongest available side for the semi-final second leg against Wigan Athletic, when Thierry Henry made his first appearance in the competition in more than six years alongside a host of other stellar names.

O’Neill suggested Wenger had conveniently forgotten about his approach to the Wigan match when he recently disputed the significance of tomorrow’s Carling Cup final between Manchester United and Aston Villa at Wembley. The Arsenal manager said: “It’s very important that we win something, we’re here to win trophies, but it depends on what you call trophies. Is it the Champions League, the Premier League, the League Cup? If you win the League Cup you cannot say you win trophies, for me.”

Wenger’s comments, coming on the back of his criticism of Villa’s style of play last month, have further antagonised O’Neill and prompted the Northern Irishman to issue a robust defence of the League Cup on the eve of the final. O’Neill pointed to the titanic battle between Manchester United and Manchester City in the semi-final this season, as well as Chelsea’s decision to “treat the competition with the utmost respect”, as evidence that Wenger is alone in believing that the League Cup has no status in English football.

“I think that if you had seen or experienced any of the two semi-final matches from Manchester City and Manchester United, if somebody had said to any of those two football clubs that this trophy is not a trophy, then I think you would have got short shrift,” said the Villa manager before recalling Wenger’s selection policy for the tie with Wigan in 2006, which Arsenal lost on away goals.

“I know that the Arsenal manager has been pretty scathing all the time in the League Cup. It would be interesting to see the team that he played against Wigan Athletic in the semi-final [second leg] of the competition. I don’t know it off hand but I would have said that it was very, very strong. So when it suits, then it’s a great competition. And when it doesn’t suit you, then it’s not. That’s not my view. It’s an important competition.

“Manchester United, I’m quite sure, will field as strong a side as they possibly can on Sunday so I think with all their games that they have – they’re contesting the Premier League, they’re in the Champions League again – and they will be treating this game with the utmost respect. Now if Manchester United and Chelsea can treat this competition with the utmost respect then that would really be enough for me.”

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• Villa manager still unhappy about ‘long ball’ slur
• Claims Frenchman could ‘learn something’ from Barcelona

Martin O’Neill last night delivered a withering attack on Arsène Wenger, accusing the Arsenal manager of being obsessed with his own importance and describing him as someone who has an opinion on every subject in the world. The Aston Villa manager, who remains furious with Wenger’s jibe after Wednesday’s goalless draw that his side “play a very long-ball game”, also suggested the Frenchman was deluded to believe his own team set the standard and claimed that he might “learn something” from watching Barcelona.

O’Neill revealed how he felt compelled to confront Wenger after Wednesday’s match to tell the Arsenal manager just how unhappy he was with his comments. Almost 48 hours later and there was no evidence that the Northern Irishman’s mood had mellowed as he strongly defended his methods and tore into Wenger again, including accusing him of using Arsenal’s style of play as a convenient excuse for their failure to compete with Chelsea and Manchester United.

“[Wenger's remarks] have actually caused a bit of amusement within the camp [among people] like James Milner, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing,” O’Neill said. “Long ball suggests that you are in there all day battling for things. But it is interesting, in the last 20 minutes of the game, I didn’t count them, but he did actually bring on a 6ft 3in centre-forward [Nicklas Bendtner], and hit him about six times in the game from [Gaël] Clichy and his people. So it is a nonsense.

“It is interesting, the point he makes, that nobody can play football in the manner that they do. If he believes that, good luck to him,” said O’Neill. “He might want to take a wee look at Barcelona: he might learn something, as we all could. Anybody worth their salt would want to aspire to playing like Barcelona, it is a wonderful thing. You have to have really, really gifted players.

“What we are doing here, and I don’t care what anybody says, we have flair players picking the ball up, attacking. I thought Ashley Young was fantastic on Wednesday night. We have been more creative now than at any time in the three and a half years that I have been here, primarily because we have more creative players on the field at the same time.”

O’Neill acknowledged Wenger is a “top-quality manager” but, echoing the thoughts of José Mourinho when he was in charge at Chelsea, believes the Frenchman is too quick to wade into territory that has nothing to do with him. The Villa manager claimed that at times Wenger is saying things for “effect” and suggested that, on other occasions, in particular when the subject matter concerns Arsenal and his own players, he would benefit from being more honest.

“He has an opinion on everything,” O’Neill said. “There is not a subject in this world at this minute, political, religious, anything, that he does not have an opinion on. I really don’t mind, I just don’t want it shoved down my throat. If I totally and utterly disagree with his opinion, I will say so. I’m not the only one to disagree with him. He does say things for effect. When he talks about this particular Arsenal side, and teams going out deliberately to kick them, nobody does that. Manchester United wouldn’t do that.”

He added: “You can get carried away with your own importance, you really can. Sometimes he does. He has made a great contribution to the game here, but he is not on a different planet. He is a very skilful manager – well done him, but he has another record, like he has had something like 99 sendings-off this year, and 98 of them weren’t his fault. That is the problem.”

“There are things that happen in the game that you cannot always be fantastically proud of your team,” said O’Neill. claimed that Wenger had “conveniently forgotten” how his Arsenal teams from yesteryear were also capable of “dishing it out” at times, saying: “There can be some nasty challenges made by Arsenal players. You cannot condone everything. If what you say stands up, and people can see it, people will accept it. But I don’t think there is any acceptance with his [latest] comments. We will continue to play in the manner in which we play until we drop.”

The Villa manager believes Wenger’s outspoken remarks and reactions to decisions are often “deliberate ploys”, aimed to deflect attention from Arsenal’s shortcomings and, in some cases, influence referees: “What he wants to do is try and point out to everyone who is under his spell that Arsenal are the only delightful team around. When you are looking for that, you can spot a weakness. You are trying to get an excuse ready if you cannot compete with Manchester United and Chelsea. That is the point. The fact is they probably are able to compete, because they have enough physical players in their side to cope.”

“He is trying to influence things. He knows the game inside out. Does this mean that an Arsenal player does not make a tackle? Richard Dunne was actually fouled going through in the last minute of the game [on Wednesday], a clear foul. They do actually foul players. [But] there is a plan throughout. If he puts his hands in the air enough times, they will probably accept the fact that he can see it from that distance, that Sol Campbell hadn’t fouled Richard Dunne, and the referee obviously agrees with him.”

O’Neill did, however, reflect that Wenger’s comments had “brought a bit of merriment” to Villa’s training ground this weekand joked his players are going to “blitz” Fulham with their long-ball game at Craven Cottage today. He also suggested the fallout from a particular Champions League tie this year would be interesting. “We should hold opinions until Arsenal play Barcelona,” added O’Neill. “. And if they lose to Barcelona, Barcelona will be considered a long-ball team.”

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