Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick tells the story of Ahab, an obsessive captain on a hunt for revenge against an elusive white whale. The captain is willing to go through Hell itself — "perdition's flames" — in his journey for personal vengeance. Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger has faced a similarly futile quest for victory against Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho. In 13 competitive meetings, Wenger and the Gunners have come away with seven losses and six draws against Mourinho-led sides.
While Arsenal have come into this game as underdogs in recent fixtures, Wenger’s Gunners are flying high at the moment. Since their opening loss to Liverpool, they are unbeaten in all competitions.
Formerly a man of immense self-belief, the Portuguese manager, now at Manchester United, has seen that confidence replaced by bitterness and anger. At 18 points, the Red Devils sit eight points off the top of the table and already face a must-win game on Saturday.
However, this matchup is more than any other league tie or battle for three points. It pits two of the Premier League’s biggest personalities from the 21st century against each other, and as entertaining as that is already, Wenger and Mourinho’s antics, on and off the pitch, only heighten the stakes that come with this storied rivalry.
Soundbite gold
It didn’t take long for the two personalities to butt heads. Their exchanges were initially mild, but came to blows in August 2005 after Wenger expressed concern over Chelsea’s tactics.
"I know we live in a world where we have only winners and losers, but once a sport encourages teams who refuse to take the initiative, the sport is in danger," said Wenger. Mourinho would fire back, but with more spite.
“Wenger has a real problem with us and I think he is what you call in England a voyeur. He is someone who likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. Wenger must be one of them — it is a sickness. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea," he said.
This time, the Frenchman didn’t hold back.
“He's out of order, disconnected with reality and disrespectful. When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent,” he said.
To his credit, Mourinho did apologize for his “voyeur” comment, and the rivalry was placed on hold when he moved on to manage other European clubs. Jabs were still exchanged, but since they didn’t meet on the pitch as often, their words lost traction.
When the Portuguese manager came back to Chelsea for his second spell, the rivals tried to remain cordial, but it didn’t last. Perhaps the most controversial quote came then, in February 2014.
After a decade of public spats, the rivalry eventually culminated in the famous physical confrontation between the two when Wenger shoved Mourinho in October 2014 during a match at Stamford Bridge. Wenger apologized but ever since it’s been back to the same
It’s important to realize that Wenger and Mourinho’s deep dislike for one another does not just stem from their touchline bust-ups or press conference one-liners. These two men are fundamentally different at their very cores.
The beautiful game vs. winning ugly
In order to truly grasp Wenger’s doctrine, one must look at what he values most. Hailing from a small town on the eastern border of France, his Catholic upbringing perhaps helps to explain why he intends soccer to be a religious experience.
“[If a fan] wakes up in the morning and thinks, ‘Oh! Today Arsenal play, I have a chance to have a great experience today,’ I’ve done my job. If we win the game – I’ve done a very good job. But at least I have to try to give people that level – that emotionally they will experience something beautiful,” Wenger told L’Equipe Sport.
Wenger is an ardent believer in “the beautiful game” and relentlessly tries to protect its sanctity. Stubborn to a fault, he prioritizes artistry over results. The Arsenal boss refuses to let anything shake his philosophy, sometimes leading to disaster. Practically every other manager in the world has compromised at some point in their careers, and those who haven’t were working with bigger budgets.
Mourinho, on the other hand, first arrived in London during Wenger’s era. The Gunners were reigning champions and fresh off their improbable “Invincibles” season. In his first season, he led Chelsea to its first league title in 50 years, and ended the campaign with a record 95 points.
If Wenger’s aim is to put on a show for his fans, Mourinho seeks the opposite: to win at all costs, with or without glamour. To “park the bus,” as it’s been called, is to defend with nearly the entire team. Allow the other team possession, and punish them on the counter off the slightest error. It may not be the most entertaining to watch, but hey, winning ugly is still winning.
Both men are staunch in their ideologies. Wenger will always value virtue over results and Mourinho, the contrary. Here, the oft-quoted phrase in sports is split in two: to Wenger, winning isn’t everything; to Mourinho, it is the only thing.
Success: Long-term or short?
Wenger and Mourinho’s successes and failures in the past have not only shaped their clubs, but also created their identities. Arsenal haven’t brought in as much silverware as Mourinho’s teams, but Wenger’s long-term priorities are best exemplified in the rise of former products Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie.
Now, Wenger has Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi, and their rapid promotions to the first team bring to light what the Frenchman is about. Ed Smith puts it best: “[Wenger] is a teacher first, a manager second, a tactician third.” He intends to nurture his players, and their improvement gives him more joy than the strategic test of any given match.
Mourinho brought his brash personality and Machiavellian ruthlessness with him when he joined the Premier League in 2004. Fervent in his tactics, he brought nouveau-riche Chelsea the title with the now-renowned 4-3-3 formation, incorporating Claude Makélélé as an out-and-out holding midfielder and allowing his strikers to play a more involved role in their sides, where they could contribute in both creating and scoring goals.
He has since found success at different clubs by implementing varying formations at Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and again at Chelsea. But just as he doesn’t shy away from moving house, Mourinho does not mince his words when it comes to his players.
Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly, and Daley Blind have all been singled out by their manager after various losses this campaign. Mkhitaryan and Blind were subbed off at halftime in their 2-1 loss to derby rivals Manchester City, and Mourinho cited that he would have taken them off earlier but did not want to “destroy them.”
Still a man of principle, Mourinho bore the brunt of the blame. “It’s my fault because I’m the manager and it’s always my fault because it’s always my choice,” he said.
Again, this is where the two differ. Wenger will sacrifice points to back his players because shaping their self-confidence, to him, is of utmost importance.
In February 2014, during the home leg of Arsenal’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich (coached by Pep Guardiola at the time), the Gunners were thrilling to watch. For the first 10 minutes, Arsenal ran rampant. Guardiola conceded in his post-match conference that it was the first 10-minute span in which he’d seen his team be absolutely dominated all season.
With the match still scoreless, Wenger’s men were awarded a penalty. The Frenchman’s record signing, Mesut Özil, stepped up to the plate and failed to capitalize. From that moment, the momentum shifted and Özil never recovered from his mistake. Arsenal went down to 10 men, yet Wenger chose to sacrifice Santi Cazorla. He refused to sub off his incredibly talented-yet-vulnerable superstar because of his self-imposed paternal responsibility to the German. The match was won by Munich, but Wenger insured that his players knew they had his exhaustive support.
To Mourinho, no one player is safe. If they don’t fit the system, they are dispensable. But while both managers are critical of their players, they set themselves apart based on the setting in which they voice their concerns.
In the buildup to this weekend, Wenger has tried to tone down the idea that Saturday’s match revolves around the rivalry between him and Mourinho.
“It’s between two clubs and two teams and I think I can understand that people want to create controversy, but what will make the audience is the quality of the game,” he said Thursday.
After an outright snub in last year’s Community Shield and a forced handshake with Mourinho in September 2015, Thursday’s press conference revealed that Wenger was open to the pre-match common courtesy.
“Of course, I respect ...” pausing slightly, before continuing with a glint in his eye, “... the ritual that is so important in the Premier League.”
Both managers will try to downplay the idea that this is about them, but when they come out of the tunnel and the show begins, there will be as much drama on the touchline as there is on the pitch.
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