Despite a series of journalist attempts to get Arsène Wenger to engage in an opinion on anything even vaguely to do with José Mourinho at the pre-match press conference, the Arsenal manager’s stance was crystal clear.
For a manager who normally speaks freely on any topic, the Chelsea manager was a non-starter. Nada. Zip. The history of mutual antipathy runs deep, and when Wenger said he did not wish to comment on whether he would shake the Chelsea manager’s hand, his expression tightening, the tension this whole brouhaha provokes was palpable.
The irony was that Wenger was so adamant not to inflame this particular story, but this deliberate stance not to discuss it – so unusual for him – was revealing enough to set off a sort of simmering anyway. The assembled journalists were left attempting to analyse the deeper meaning of a cluster of no comments.
Do Mourinho’s digs have any effect?
“You should ask him that question. I focus on what I love which is football. I respect everybody in the job and focus on what I love and that’s football. All the rest honestly does not concern me much.”
But don’t they have an effect on you?
“No because I just told you that what is important is football for me.”
What about not shaking hands at the Community Shield?
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
Will you shake hands tomorrow?
“I won’t tell you more that I just told you.”
Do you regret the touchline incident last season?
“I have nothing more to say about this situation.”
Is your relationship with José better?
“A special relationship is not my worry, all I worry about is our performance tomorrow.”
Are Chelsea in decline?
“I don’t know, I leave that to the specialists. I take care of my team and my own problems.”
It all felt a bit damned if you do and damned if you don’t in terms of this area of discussion. Wenger is no fan of these verbal spats, and doesn’t like to think they have too much real consequence.
“Realistically people come to watch football and all the rest is a little bit secondary,” he says. “What is important is the quality of what we will see tomorrow at 12:45 and you want people to focus on that. For us it’s a big game and we know our position at the end of the season will depend on how well we do in the big games. I do not think too much about where Chelsea stand in the league at the moment. I focus more on us performing well with full power tomorrow.”
Wenger reflected positively on the impact of finally beating Chelsea in the Community Shield. “It can sometimes it can be a mental block for the players or the team when they do not win against certain teams. On that front it was good,” he says.
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