ON THURSDAY night I got a call from a reporter : Wenger is not doing his usual press confererence tomorrow.
This morning on TV I saw presenter Alex Hammond say, “We still haven’t heard from Arsene Wenger after his bust-up with Alan Pardew. He’s due to do a press conference today – you’ll see it on Sky Sports News – if he turns up.”
In my office, an email from a football reporter : “AW’s cancelled Friday conference – have you ever known his complete withdrawal for a whole week?”
The Sky coverage seems a bit mischievous.They must have known last night.Will they send a crew to film themselves not talking to the Arsenal manager?
So here we are five days after West Ham beat Arsenal 1-0.
The media are missing Arsene because it’s a world of 24/7 rolling news and they need quotes and soundbites and talking heads and Arsene Wenger has given them all they want and more for ten years and done it with huge charm and skill.
Before Upton Park, he had missed, I think, two press conferences after games. In one, he had laryngitis. He had lost his voice. He was ill and should not have been at the game.
In the other, I recall, he was very angry and knew he would say what he thought of the game if he talked, so he decided to shut up.Twice in ten years.He always talks.Win, lose or draw, Arsene Wenger always shows up for the media, always answers questions.
So last Sunday reporters were shocked that he did not appear before them.
He has not talked to TV, radio or the press all week. So newsmen lose a vital source of topical information and columnists relish putting the boot into him.The Guardian’s Marina Hyde said this week that Wenger is madder than Mourinho or Sir Alex.
Myself, I still think 90% of Arsene’s anger was about losing the game and 10% was about Pardew’s antics. And he didn’t want to say anything until the FA charged him with misconduct.
Back in 1997 I was one of the first reporters to realise how angry Arsene could get after a defeat. He lost to Liverpool on November 29 and then lost to Blackburn on December 13.
He was furious after those failures but it wasn’t obvious after the Liverpool game.Arsenal had beaten Man United 3-2 in the previous home fixture.
After games reporters put dictaphones on the desk near the manager who is talking, as you’ve seen many times on TV. I always sat in the front row, especially at Arsenal, and scribbled a few lines in a notebook, as well as recording the whole press conference. I liked to watch the face of the manager and try to see the real character behind the mask of the public man. Some of them are good actors and George Graham is the greatest actor I’ve ever met in football.
The Liverpool game was Wenger against Houllier, two French managers.And the visitors were very, very negative.
Houllier came in first, happy with a 1-0 away win.And then Wenger came in and talked plausibly in a sportsmanlike manner, very dignified as usual, about various aspects of the match. I was sitting five feet from him and watching his face closely.
I slowly realised there was something different today. It dawned on me that Arsene was seething. He was absolutely livid. I couldn’t hear it in his voice but I could see it in his face. I didn’t think anybody else twigged it because they were not watching his face so intently.I wondered whether he was furious with Houllier or his own team’s performance. On balance, I thought he was angry with Houllier. The two were friends but not close friends.
The Blackburn game was much worse and very different.Everyone knew how angry he was after that defeat, which had started well with an Overmars goal, which made the game seem normal.
But Chris Sutton battered Tony Adams, Jason Wilcox scored, Kevin Gallagher scored, even Tim Sherwood scored. It was terrible. It was appalling. It was not what I expected to see.
I thought : Arsenal don’t lose 3-1 at home to ANYBODY.
Losing 3-1 was abnormal and a bitter blow to Arsene. I was shocked and disappointed but he was 100 times more shocked and disappointed than I was.And it showed.We could see it, feel it, hear it, quote it, broadcast it.
However, that trauma was a catalyst. Arsenal never looked back after that.They had a team meeting and the back four told Vieira and Petit they wanted more protection and after that they were much more solid and they pretty much stormed through the rest of the season and won 4-0 at Anfield in April and won the double.
Now, ten years later, it is Liverpool again with a Spanish manager.
Their first game at the Emirates Stadium.
Rafa Benitez will miss Sissoko and might play Gerrard in central midfield. But he could play Zenden, even though Zenden played midweek in the Carling Cup.Crouch and Kuyt are both scoring, so the back five will have to concentrate 110%.Which they will do.
All ten Premiership clubs play on Saturday and Sunday and Arsenal v Liverpool tops the bill at 4pm on Sunday.
Obviously, Arsene wants to break the Emirates pattern of 1-1 draws.
You just never know in football.
Last Friday we would never have guessed that the best two players on the field would be Gilberto and Danny Gabbidon.
UPDATE :
Unfortunately, Rosicky is out for two weeks with a hamstring injury.
Gilberto talked to Sky today, not Henry.
Having now seen the Andy Johnson-Senderos incident eight times, I’m 100% satisfied that he dived.
Tim Howard took a goal kick, the ball went over the heads of Cahill and Song, and Djourou flicked the ball away from Johnson, who did a despicable dive, as if his right foot had been hooked away.
You have to be very quick, nimble and acrobatic to cheat in such a manner.I might just change my mind and stop being an Andy Johnson fan
Then McFadden protested and was sent off by Graham Poill.
It wasn’t Poll who cost Everton that Carling Cup tie..It was McFadden departing after 18 minutes.He cost Everton the game.
Johnson’s cheatiung was so clever, so quick, that it deceived McFadden – and got him sent off.
But if James McFadden had kept his mouth shut, Everton might have won.