Simon Vieira: I mean, one of us, obviously, will always get involved and be critical of things, but that’s not a problem because we’re friends and I have a relationship with the player. If we don’t understand something about his game, it’s usually because we didn’t do it on our own.

Wenger admitted that there is a ‘clear understanding’ about what happens after the tournament ends and that both teams will spend the rest of the season working through their differences.

But he said he understood why the French side are unhappy with the way they play because it is not something he wants to do himself – with that being a factor he was keen to point out in his criticism.

“A player doesn’t want to win the competition every year. That’s why we’re there, they don’t want to win and the way we play means it’s more difficult to win that way,” he said.

“I know these players and I know they want to win but that has to be balanced, it has to be balanced with every other team, it has to be balanced with other cultures and it has to be balanced with every other part of the football world.

“They’re not happy. I know they don’t want to win any more and I think this is what brings about a little bit of tension and maybe it’s necessary maybe to start talking about that – but I don’t think that’s the right thing.”