The eye-grabbing game of the EPL fixtures this weekend is undoubtedly the resuming of the highly entertaining battle between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger for the first time as United versus Arsenal.
Historically this fixture had blood, guts, title deciders, glorious goals and created storylines that go into EPL folklore.
Kasper Schmeichel versus Ian Wright, Patrick Vieira versus Roy Keane, Martin Keown versus Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United 8 – Arsenal 2.
Ryan Giggs versus the entire Arsenal defence and Arsenal winning the league at Old Trafford.
In fact, throughout the history of the Premier League, this fixture is the standout. The two most successful Premier League teams creating consistently the best and most entertaining football.
However, as you can see from the list of fables above, it’s all gone rather quiet over the last few years.
Initially Alex Ferguson and Wenger stirred the cauldron as much as the players and it sparked these incredibly absorbing encounters, but when you’re at the top of your game against the same old adversary for ten years, you’d be a bit heartless if you didn’t start to gain a modicum of respect for the guy who’s pushed you this far.
After all they both did secure their own versions of perfection: Ferguson’s 1999 treble and Wenger’s Invincibles in 2004.
And thus started the turning of the attitudes. Even when United won 8-2 in 2011, Ferguson defended Wenger in the aftermath, and played down his sides performance: “The Arsenal team is weakened”, “We got careless at times and they made chances” and “It is unfair to criticise him [Wenger]”.
You couldn’t fathom this level of magnanimity in the late 90s. Now, you wouldn’t be surprised if they grew old next door to each other once the Frenchman does indeed retire.
One reason for the softening of the relationship could’ve been the slightly diminished threat of Arsenal towards the end of Ferguson’s tenure. A great battle it was, but one that was won by the Scot in the end. The other reason, the arrival of the flamboyant, energetic and abrasive Jose Mourinho brought another foe at Wenger’s door.
The Portuguese took a shine to Ferguson, whom he liked to call the Boss, but his relationship with Wenger was at the opposite end of the scale. Fiery touchline encounters and the trading of insults marks a chequered history to say the least. Mourinho calling Wenger a “voyeur” to which Wenger called Mourinho “stupid” really is the stuff of playgrounds. But, through all this bluster it is the current United manager who holds the upper hand.
The fact Wenger has recorded just one win against a Mourinho side in 15 attempts is quite damning, and while those games were all against Chelsea, it shows perhaps that the mind games play a factor when these two managerial heavyweights slug it out. That and Didier Drogba, who helped himself to 13 goals against Arsenal in two stints at Chelsea and was another of Wenger’s tormentors. No Drogba this time, and thus far, no mind games.
There is a feeling that all that animosity maybe be just about far enough in the past for it to rear its head here though. Mourinho focused on sparking consistent life into an clunky United side, but also seemingly fighting his own demons, instead of praying on his adversary’s.
While Wenger is seemingly concentrated more on how to drive his team toward a season-long title challenge. The dynamic this season is altered too, with Arsenal showing signs of a title bid with some great football accompanied with the ugly wins required to keep the pace, but United are a way off the pace – a mirage, constantly evolving and shape shifting to their detriment.
This fixture may not be against the top two sides in the country any more, but there is a feeling that an intense, hard fought victory for either side could have reverberations on the rest of their seasons.
For Wenger it’s the opportunity to get the Mourinho hoodoo off his back, prove that his team have more resolve than recent campaigns and would also leave them top of the table temporarily.
For Mourinho – he needs to get his head back into the metronomic nature of winning relentlessly in any manner, which was so often his style. Regularly the tactical genius in the big games, it would prove a lot to the doubters and to himself should his side gain the victory. Strange to say, but the Special One needs some confidence.
Let’s be honest, the often fiery encounters between the clubs and their managers sparked a bloodlust in the neutrals also, and its return would be a welcome one for the millions watching on Saturday night, but it could be just the tonic to jolt both of this recently slumberous giants into action.
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