Manchester United vs Arsenal: Arsene Wenger senses now is his moment to finally KO rival Jose Mourinho
Gunners are flying high in the Premier League while Jose Mourinho has had a rocky start to life at Old Trafford
AT the heart of the Premier League’s bitterest managerial rivalry is a simple clash of footballing styles.
It is not about Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho personally loathing each other — although they undoubtedly do.
It is not about Manchester United’s manager being eaten up by perceived favouritism towards Arsenal’s ‘specialist in failure’ — although he undoubtedly is.
And it is not that Wenger is genuinely wounded by Mourinho’s personal insults and infuriated by the fact he has never defeated his nemesis in a competitive match (although the Gunners boss counts last year’s Community Shield victory over Mourinho’s Chelsea, while the Portuguese does not).
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No, the crux of it is one manager believing in victory at all costs and another cherishing the beautiful game. It is science versus art. The results business or the entertainment industry?
As hostilities resume at Old Trafford, Wenger is buoyant.
Despite Arsenal having plunged from Invincibles to also-rans since Mourinho first rocked up in 2004, despite having never tasted a Premier League victory over the Portuguese in 11 attempts and despite having failed to win at United in the league for ten years, the Frenchman fancies his chances.
And while he dodged questions about personal enmity, Wenger happily talked up the need for this once-great fixture to thrill the world.
He said: “Before a big game like this, it is ‘Mourinho v Wenger’ but what is important is the quality of the game.
“When you watch Real Madrid v Barcelona, you’re never disappointed because you see quality.
“Today, football has changed and, even if it’s Manchester United v Arsenal, if the game is not good after 20 minutes they move somewhere else.
“The audience is demanding, Sky pays a lot of money for football but it is not the controversy before the game — that can only attract a few hundred more.
“The audience test the quality of what they see and, if it is not good, they go somewhere else because they have five games a day to watch.
“We’ve seen a few games this season which didn’t respond completely to the expectation level between two big teams.
“And I think it’s important that this is a top-level game because it will be watched all over the world and, for the reputation of the Premier League, it’s important the quality is good.”
Wenger was surely referring to the much-hyped Liverpool v United ‘Red Monday’ clash which ended in a 0-0 draw after an exercise in Mourinho bus-parking.
We might imagine that however the head-to-head stats and the trophy count end up, Wenger will be remembered more fondly than Mourinho because of his eye-candy football. Yet even Wenger’s most ardent admirers cannot deny that half of Arsenal’s support were in open revolt against him last season.
While Mourinho left Chelsea on a wave of popular sympathy at Stamford Bridge, even with his fallen champions on the brink of the relegation zone.
Times have changed. Mourinho’s mood is dark since joining United while Wenger is in good humour.
At Arsenal’s pre-match press conference, he was even bantering with his biographer, smiling that he had apparently become “rich by killing me”.
Over the previous few seasons, Wenger had been publicly prickly, while Mourinho could light up a room with his charisma, even when on the warpath.
Now it is different, with Arsenal unbeaten in 16 games and six points clear of United, while Mourinho seems substantially less special.
During dark times, Mourinho could always rely on his siege-mentality tactic. Yet now he seems to mistrust his own players.
Even after victory at Swansea, his public criticism of Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw meant United headed into the international break on a sour note.
He will always rouse himself for a meeting with Wenger, though. Little has pleased him more than humiliating the Frenchman with a 6-0 victory on his 1,000th match as Arsenal boss.
Even during his dog days at Chelsea, while in frequent disciplinary trouble, he would lash out at Wenger — “He can speak about referees before the game. He can speak after the game. He can push people in the technical area. He can cry in the morning, he can cry in the afternoon. Nothing happens.”
And during what should have been a celebratory Old Trafford unveiling, he lobbed a Molotov in Wenger’s direction: “There are some managers who won the title ten years ago . . . the last time I won the title was one year ago, so if I have something to prove, imagine the others.”
He was at it again on Friday.
In truth, Mourinho and Wenger have more in common than they would care to admit.
Both are absolute football obsessives. Both possess a complete inability to be gracious in defeat. Even Sir Alex Ferguson had his horses and his wine; even Ferguson could be magnanimous when beaten fair and square.
Wenger and Ferguson ended up on friendly terms. Wenger and Mourinho never will.
When asked if he regretted his behaviour towards his rival, Wenger answered: “I make mistakes and I regret every one. I would have loved to have a life without mistakes. But I’m not even sure that Jesus did that.”
But Mourinho does not do those sort of regrets. Mourinho regrets only defeats.