Jose Mourinho is returning to the Emirates on Tuesday night for the first time in six years as his Chelsea visit Arsenal in a Capital One Cup tie. In the past we could predict precisely what would ensue. As the verbal pyrotechnics crackled and sparked, we would be in for an early bonfire night. At the press conference it would have been best to retire to a safe distance. This is how confrontations between the pair traditionally went. Mourinho would open fire with some snipe about his opposite number, perhaps comparing Arsène Wenger to a peeping tom. In response, Wenger would look down his substantial nose and, without mentioning any names, emit some condescending remark about how class can only be earned over time. The match would then be played in a toxic atmosphere that went beyond the standard peppery spice of a London derby. And then, once the hostilities were over, the two would spurn any opportunity for reconciliatory hospitality, preferring to continue their scrap via proxies in the press. There has long been a temptation in football reporting to view matches as personal scraps between managers. But in this instance the evidence insisted they really didnt like one another.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 18:30:08 +0000
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