“In hindsight I think I should not have reacted at all. It’s not a way to behave on a football field. Did Mourinho provoke me? That is how I felt. I did not enter Chelsea’s technical area.”
Arsene Wenger had just walked over to then-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and shoved him in the chest after the latter walked over to the fourth official to share his views on Gary Cahill clattering into Alexis Sanchez in the 10th minute of the Premier League game at Stamford Bridge.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa would go on to seal the points for Mourinho’s Chelsea as a decade of frustration over exchanged barbs and open dislike boiled over. That was October 2014. Mourinho and Chelsea would romp to the title, while Arsenal would finish a further 12 points behind.
No love lost
Mourinho has been openly disrespectful of the Frenchman in their vitriol-filled exchanges, referring to Wenger as a “voyeur” and a “specialist in failure”.
The record is however, firmly in Mourinho’s favour, with five wins for the Portuguese manager, who has never tasted defeat in their 11 Premier League meetings. Wenger’s only win over the Manchester United manager came in the Community Shield in August 2015 with Mourinho in charge of Chelsea at the time.
Over the years, this fixture has seen some memorable clashes with Arsenal winning the league at Old Trafford in 2002 and Ruud Van Nistelrooy missing a 91st minute penalty in 2003 and with it, a chance to halt Arsenal’s now-famous 49-game unbeaten streak at eight. After the penalty miss, Martin Keown added insult to injury by getting into the Dutchman’s face.
United would eventually be the ones to halt the Invincibles the next season as Van Nistelrooy would score from the spot this time with Rooney getting United’s second on the night. After the game, a post-match fracas in the tunnel led to bizarre reports that someone had thrown pizza on Sir Alex Ferguson’s face.
The pizza thrower’s identity remains a mystery till date.
United’s biggest win over their rivals came in the 2011-’12 season where they put eight goals past an injury-depleted Arsenal at Old Trafford. This was also Arsenal’s heaviest defeat in any competition since 1896 and came in Ferguson’s penultimate season.
There is no doubt that this was the standout fixture of the 90’s, a time before the emergence of the “Big Four” and Manchester City. While the sheen may not have remained, the passion between the supporters of the two clubs for this game remains as bright as ever.
Jose under pressure?
Old Trafford is Arsenal’s bogey ground with the Gunners having a lower win percentage at the ground than anywhere else in the Premier League era. Arsenal have won only three league matches at the ground, their last win coming in 2006.
Last season, it finally looked like Wenger was going to record his victory in a decade at the ground only for a teenage Marcus Rashford to score twice on his debut.
But the situation is different for both Wenger and Mourinho this time. Mourinho is in charge of a new club and he has been at a loss to explain their poor displays, especially after a no-holds-barred summer splurge. With United struggling this time around, Wenger has a chance of ending both his Mourinho and Old Trafford hoodoos.
United have made their second worst start ever to a PL season after 11 games and simply cannot afford a loss at home after dropping points to the likes of Stoke and Burnley. For Jose, it would be nothing short of unpalatable if his team were to lose to Arsenal and fall nine points behind them in the race for top four.
Unfortunately for Jose and United, the backline is ravaged and they will be without Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia, all of whom are ruled out due to injury while Luke Shaw faces a race against time in order to be fit for this clash.
A back four of Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones certainly does sound good if you are an Arsenal fan and the trio of Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil and Alex Iwobi will relish this opportunity to come up against United’s second-string defensive quartet. David De Gea could be in for a busy afternoon.
Is Ibra’s omission a blessing in disguise?
The goals have been hard to come by for United and they have been overly reliant on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is their top scorer with six. A fifth booking of the season sees him ruled out for this fixture, but that may not necessarily be a negative for United.
There is no doubt that the Swede is a phenomenal forward with an eye for goal but his miss allows Jose to opt for more pace in the form of Marcus Rashford up front. A support cast of Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard might be preferred if Mourinho decides to speed up the tempo against an Arsenal side missing their fastest defensive player, Hector Bellerin.
Bellerin’s withdrawal through injury may mean that Rob Holding or Shkodran Mustafi may start at right-back with the other partnering Laurent Koscielny in defence. Alexis Sanchez scored twice for Chile in their World Cup qualifiers but he seemed to be carrying an injury. This is Wenger’s only selection quandary as opposed to his rival, and Olivier Giroud may take Sanchez’s spot as the sole forward.
Ander Herrera will return to the team after suspension, but the identity of his partner in the 4-2-3-1 may be crucial to the outcome of the game. Mourinho may not risk Michael Carrick against the pace of Arsenal and may opt for Morgan Schneiderlin instead. The Frenchman offers more mobility, but does not quite have the passing range of Carrick’s.
Wenger may never get a better chance to beat Mourinho and United at Old Trafford. His team are unbeaten since the first day of the season, having won their last four away games.
For all the £100 million they have spent, United have flattered to deceive on many occasions this season and a team low on morale and depleted by injuries have their task cut out for them. There is no doubt as to which manager will be under greater pressure, come Saturday evening.
