One improvement for Merson in the modern game is the demise of the "drinking culture" so prevalent in the 1970s, '80s and early '90s – a factor in Merson's own slide into despair.
"That's all gone now," he says. "They're all on their Playstations now. We all used to go out drinking on a Tuesday night. Imagine that now. You'd be slaughtered by the manager. There's no way you'd play Saturday if you'd been drinking Tuesday."
His first taste of now-standard "modern" training routines, specialised diets and sports science came when Arsene Wenger was appointed at Arsenal in 1996. "Arsene took us to a hotel on the morning of the game for stretches and massages. All your food was measured out. Precise amounts of vegetables, pasta, chicken and so on and all at specific times.
"And you were told to chew slowly and well. ‘Chew to win!' was the club motto.
"We were given vitamin injections, caffeine pills, all sorts. Before a big game we were given injections. Don't ask me what was in them. I don't know! With George Graham, training was running until you were almost physically sick. Now if a player's heart monitor goes over a certain mark they are told to take a rest."
