Fresh from their double act at the recent LMA bash, it seems an unexpected ‘friendship’ has struck up between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Not that I expect them to agree on much this season, but the one thing they have both agreed on is that when it comes to the ‘biggest’ games of the season, Chelsea don’t feature in them.
Just ahead of our game against Manchester United on Sunday, SAF has suggested he doesn’t regard us as their biggest rivals. He says “If you look back over the last 12 or 13 years, who has it been? – Arsenal v Manchester United, Manchester United v Arsenal. Of course we’ve got Chelsea at the moment, that’s without question. But the history of Arsenal versus Manchester means that you’re not just talking about winning a football match, you’re talking about your own history against the other team’s history. There’s a dominance attached to that. You want to be the dominant team and they want to be the dominant team – and we’ve had some volatile matches because of that. But you can’t beat the history and the quality that both teams believe in and the way they want to play has never changed.”
And Fergie’s new pal agrees, suggesting “It is usually the decider of the season – big games that tell you a lot about your team. Will they be capable of winning the big matches? You go into the season with the feeling that you must win the big games and the big game usually is Manchester United.”
In fact, why Wenger felt the need to warn Scolari not to get carried away with our early season success when we’re clearly no threat to anyone, I’m not quite sure. But of our six point lead over the current Champions going into the game, he says “Eight points is manageable and it is very early on in the season. Manchester United have already faced Liverpool and now Chelsea away and still have to play them at home. There is still plenty of room to recover and it is a bit early to say it is significant. “
Now of course, historically, Fergie’s right. If you take it over the last 12 or 13 years, then it’d be United and Arsenal. But Fergie being Fergie, he chooses his wording to cause maximum irritation – and judging by some of the comments I’ve read around various forums, it’s worked a treat as usual. Wenger, on the other hand, doesn’t even have to try to irritate, it happens as a matter of course as far as I’m concerned.
Blue is the colour
