Fergie 'v' Wenger Round 196

Fergie and Arsene Wenger are at it again. The Manchester United manager has said Arsenal are a club in disarray after William Gallas had his out burst, followed by The Arse getting kicked 3-0 by Al-City. Naturally Wenger is having none of that from Fergie, though by now I would have thought he would be used to it.

Fergie, who is preparing his side to face City this weekend, believes title rivals Arsenal are not currently in good shape and that City caught them on a good day last week.

"Maybe City got Arsenal on the right day last Saturday because there seems to be a lot of disarray in the Arsenal camp with the carry-on with one of their players," said Ferguson. But you can only do what you are supposed to do and City did that very convincingly."

Wenger has angrily rejected Ferguson's claims as he looks to get his side back in the title hunt against Chelsea on Sunday.

"I don't feel we are in disarray, I feel that Manchester City are a good side and Manchester United will maybe see that on Sunday. We had a few bad results and with the pace set by Liverpool and Chelsea, that made us drop off, but the quality is there and what happened to us can happen to them. If this team beats Chelsea after having beaten Manchester United, I believe they will go from strength to strength. You just have to believe, and I know we can beat them."

Personally, I'd rather be Fergie right now than Wenger. I fear for Arsenal going into this game and it could really bury their season. A loss for Manchester United with Chelsea and Liverpool both winning will make it hard for us too, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going as they say.....Back To Home Page...

Is Arsene Wenger One Of The Best Managers Ever ?

Arsene Wenger sits on the bench at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff one Saturday in May. His team, Arsenal, are contesting another FA Cup final, their third in as many seasons. Out on the pitch his players are at it again, for one last time before the sun sets on another year. Thierry Henry receives the ball on the edge of the penalty area, waits for Dennis Bergkamp to make the run outside him on the right before sliding a pass into his path. Bergkamp twists and clips the ball back inside to Freddie Ljungberg, whose near-post shot bounces off a defender and into the path of Robert Pires. There is no other word. It is poetry - the metre and the rhythm, the beauty and the beat; France, Holland, Sweden, France; the blending of skill and athleticism and intuitive awareness that the players have of one another's movements.

On the bench Wenger watches, at once intensely involved and perfectly excluded. As the ball crosses the line he springs up and, walking towards the pitch, does his familiar celebration, elbows at his side, fists clenched and pumping discreetly. Then he applauds. Then he goes and sits down again. His is only a half -celebration, but then winning the much-eroded FA Cup is perhaps only a quarter triumph after the devastation of the preceding weeks, when Wenger's
world seems slowly, incomprehensibly, to have caved in.

To anyone accustomed to his body language, defined by its restraint, its marked lack of passion, it is as if Wenger had a personality transplant in the spring of 2003. For months Arsenal had played what may even have been the best football ever produced by a British club. Power, in Wenger's prediction, was sprinting south. And then they blew it, they blew their lead, and Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson urging them on like a whip-happy charioteer, remorselessly chased and chased and ground Arsenal down.

Few people had heard of Arsene Wenger when he came to Arsenal in 1996. He remains an enigma - a cultured, media-shy Frenchman who neither looks nor behaves like a football manager. But now he is probably one of the most influential figures in the English game.

In August 1996, the name Arsene Wenger meant absolutely nothing in north London. "Arsene Who?" ran the Evening Standard headline that greeted his appointment. It was the story of his life, from the moment he took charge of his own team at Nancy 12 years earlier. In every new job, he didn't just have to prove himself; he had to introduce himself. When Rioch was sacked, one of the papers had three or four names as a replacement. It was Venables, Cruyff and then at the end Arsene Wenger. Trust Arsenal to appoint the boring one that you haven't heard of !

Because they didn't know who he was, one Saturday two weeks before his arrival, Wenger appeared by live satellite link on the video screens at Highbury. They should have played it in the dressing room too. It was one thing for the club's most famous fan not to have heard of Wenger, quite another for the club captain. Tony Adams didn't know the new man from Adam.

There was a feeling of "who the fuck is he ?" and "what is he going to do ?" and "What is he ?". "Rioch had been sacked, caretaker manager Stewart Houston had left for Queens Park Rangers and Adams and Rice were "kind of just getting on with it", recalls Tony Adams. "I got a call from the chairman along the lines of, 'I hear the shit's hit the fan back there. Er, don't worry, rally the troops. Good man on his way. Be patient.' It was quite hilarious." Did he know anything about
Wenger ? "No." Literally the name meant nothing? "No. Nothing at all. He wasn't an English top-of-the-tree coach with proven experience. He wasn't an Alex Ferguson. He wasn't a renowned manager of that time - a George Graham."

Wenger's appointment was announced on August 20, he met the press on September 22 and took official charge on September 30, a Monday morning. "He arrived unnoticed at the training ground," Lee Dixon recalls. "A meeting was called, the players filed in and in front of us stood this tall, slightly-built man who gave no impression whatsoever of being a football manager."

It was an extremely precarious moment in Arsenal's history. With Manchester United now dominant, Arsenal had become entirely dependent on an impregnable defence and the goals of Ian Wright to keep them in contention. There was no reason why they couldn't have turned into Spurs after Rioch. But after the arrival of Wenger, people began to think it's part of the natural order of things that Arsenal and Manchester United were always one and two in the Premiership more or less every year. However, it was not in the natural order of things. It was entirely because of Arsene Wenger !

He doesn't buy success, that's easy to do. He cultures it, he finds the raw, basic talent and he nurtures it, takes care of it and produces some of the most amazing teams I have seen for very, very little money. If it were possible to turn back the clock and re-run his 12 years with Arsenal WITHOUT Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, Wenger would be one of the greatest managers that ever lived. It would have been Arsenal winning title after title and FA Cup after FA Cup. Sadly for Wenger though, Sir Alex Ferguson does exist and he has cast a shadow over what I believe to be one of the best managers ever to grace the English game.

That's Arsene Wenger.....Back To Home Page.....

Arsene Wenger Says United Are A "Great" Team

Two goals from Samir Nasri gave The
Arse a 2-1 win over Manchester United
at the Emirates Stadium, in a match
Wenger admits his side simply needed
to win.

Talking to Sky Sports he said: "It was
of course vital to win, overall, it was a
great football game. Both teams really
went for it. I knew today that was a
big game for the future of the team.
We needed to keep in the race and know
we can win big games. Man United are
a great side and they created chances
but didn't take them. We took our
chances today.” .....Back To Home Page

Alex Ferguson Furious With Jibes At Wenger !

Sir Alex Ferguson has hit out at Manchester United fans for targeting Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. “It should stop," said Ferguson.

“There’s been a focus on fans’ behaviour and the chants towards Arsene Wenger and other managers. It’s ridiculous and I think the police should be doing more. They should be stepping in. Manchester United and their supporters should know very well the chants that have been levelled at us over the years — ie Munich — and understand the sensitivity, and the criticism directed at members of the club itself. I don’t agree with it at all and hopefully our fans appreciate it comes to me too. I hope other clubs share the same views I do. There is enough to admire in our game without having to denigrate people.” .....Back To Home Page

Do Or Die Time For The Arse

Arsenal could drop right out of the race for the Premier League title unless they get a result from the game against Manchester United. If they lose at home to Manchester United on Saturday I don't rate their chances of getting back into the thick of things personally. Half the problem is that Arse Wenger is too busy complaining that his players are being unfairly treated by referees and opponents.

A loss at Emirates Stadium would leave the Gunners four points behind the defending champions, with Chelsea and Liverpool both possibly moving nine points ahead.

"It's a massive game of massive importance for us," Wenger said. "Manchester United-Arsenal is always a special one. It's important for us that we do well in the big games in this league now."

Arsenal have failed to win their last three matches - drawing 4-4 with Tottenham after leading 4-2 in the final minute, losing 2-1 at Stoke and then being held 0-0 at home by Fenerbahce in the Champions League - and Wenger says his players are receiving lots of unfair challenges. "In the second half, we dropped physically and were less dangerous from then on, we were not sharp enough to put our strikers into good positions. You expect us to make chances in the last 20 minutes and this didn't come because physically we didn't have the resources."

Wenger said Stoke injured three of his players yet referees are penalising his team by being too quick to give yellow cards. "Look at the fair play table. Who is top? Arsenal," he said. "Look at the team that makes less fouls. Arsenal. (Yet) who gets more yellow cards after four or five fouls Arsenal. Some teams get their first yellow cards after 15 fouls." A glance at the head-to-heads between the big four rivals suggests the early advantage lies with Liverpool. Rafa Benitez' team, with an apparently easy home game against next-to-last West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, have beaten Man United at home and Chelsea away this season. Chelsea have drawn 1-1 at home with Man United, but this is Arsenal's first game against any of the other three and they can't afford to lose otherwise they will lose touch with them all.

With the game at Arsenal in mind, United started with strikers Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov on the bench, but both were needed in the second half of a 1-1 draw at Celtic in the Champions League as the Red Devils required a late equaliser by Ryan Giggs. Cristiano Ronaldo, whose 42 goals for us helped capture the Premier League and Champions League titles last year, is gunning for a third championship in a row and sees a victory at Arsenal as a big step forward.

"We want to win the title so we have to get three points there, I don't know if it is tough for them at the moment but they will still have 11 players, the same as us, and I know it will be difficult because it always is."

Leading Liverpool on goal difference, Chelsea visit Blackburn on Sunday hoping to recover from Tuesday's 3-1 Champions League loss at AS Roma. Luiz Felipe Scolari's stars have won all five Premier League games on the road with 14 goals scored and only one conceded. Liverpool needed a disputed injury-time penalty by Steven Gerrard to salvage a 1-1 Champions League draw at home to Atletico Madrid. Their last Premier League game was a 2-1 loss at Tottenham after going ahead. The dippers could have striker Fernando Torres back to play West Brom, however, and maintain the pressure on the Blues.....Back To Home Page

Arsenal Next - Bring It On !!

Doesn't Sir Alex look just happy here ? Not surprising really when he gets to have a crack at the crumbling Arsenal this week. Arsenal are going through a sticky patch, goals and points are drying up and injuries are mounting, so it is not the best time to entertain title rivals Manchester United on Saturday.

A home defeat by Hull City is enough to get the tears flowing for The Arsenal and last week's shipping of two late goals to allow local rivals Tottenham Hotspur to grab a famous 4-4 draw both undermined the "Fortress Emirates" mentality. That was followed by another defeat at Stoke City and Wednesday's goalless home draw with Fenerbahce in the Champions League, a team they thumped 5-2 away last month.

Striker Emmanuel Adebayor will miss Saturday's game with an ankle injury, winger Theo Walcott is doubtful with a shoulder problem and Robin van Persie is suspended. Without their first-choice strike duo, Wenger is likely to turn to 19-year-old Carlos Vela, who played the last 30 minutes on Wednesday, and Nicklas Bendtner, hardly ideal against the Champions of Europe.

That lack of depth has left Arsenal exposed but Wenger, instead of looking to his own selections and dealings, or otherwise, in the close-season transfer market, has chosen to look elsewhere for blame. Increasingly frustrated by the way more physical teams have been able to negate his slick-passing but lightweight side, the Frenchman this week claimed that Stoke's players had set out to deliberately hurt his players. The only thing that Stoke did to hurt his players was to allow Rory Delap to take two throw ins from which Stoke scored !!

However, he is refusing to panic. We want to be guided by the way we want to play football, our spirit and not to go over-board, we lost a game (against Stoke) but we are six points behind the leaders. It is the start of November and we have plenty of quality to get it back. United is always a massive game and Saturday is no different. But they drew also against Celtic so maybe that shows you how demanding the Premier League is."

Another defeat could stretch that gap to nine and see Chelsea, Liverpool and United pulling clear. Although United needed a late Ryan Giggs header for their point at Celtic Park, their multi-pronged attack again looked extremely dangerous. Soft defending allowed Hull to score three at Old Trafford last week but United bagged four. Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are all starting to find the net regularly and Carlos Tevez is also showing some sharpness after spending time on the bench. A point ahead of Arsenal and with a game in hand, an away victory for United, something they have managed in the league just once in 10 years, would leave the Gunners in real trouble.

Chelsea, who returned to the top last week on goal difference with a 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland, are at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday while Liverpool, stunned 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur, are at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.....Back To Home Page