HANSEN & SAF

Last updated : 17 January 2005 By editor

From The Telegraph:

'I think somewhere along the line before the clash between Arsenal and Manchester United on Feb 1 the directors of the two clubs have got to put an end to the ongoing dispute between their respective managers, which flared up again over the weekend.

They have to say to their people: "This is going to damage the image of both clubs. You've had your say, now let the football do the talking."

I believe what's happening between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger has not yet got to the stage of bringing the game into disrepute but it is definitely giving the game a bad image.

As much as we enjoy the rhetoric and what they say about each other it has come to the point where it has got to calm down a bit because it is getting very personal. Too personal.

The one common denominator whenever a major argument breaks out between leading figures in the game is Ferguson. He is always in the middle of it all. Ferguson has been a master of this kind of thing since time began. He knows the system and how it works and how to rattle people. Everybody from managers, players, referees and media and he has become an expert at it.

Wenger has tried to compete with Ferguson in the mental battles. He looked at one stage as though he was going to be the Scot's equal in the mind games but he has suddenly fallen behind. When Arsenal were dominant, Wenger might have seen his counterpart off but it seems to me that Ferguson is in the ascendancy again.

Wenger's problem is that the fall-out from the last match against United is still going on and Ferguson every so often has used that to his advantage. Arsenal did not cover themselves in glory - on or off the pitch and they are still suffering from it. What happened there has given Ferguson a lot of leeway with a lot of people.

Ferguson is a master of using anything he has got in his favour to his advantage.

You don't see Ferguson having a go at Alan Curbishley or David O'Leary or Sam Allardyce or Iain Dowie or even Graeme Souness or Rafael Benitez - because they are not a serious threat to him.

He has set his sights on two guys - Wenger and Mourinho. He is obviously having a go at Wenger and putting pressure on him. And he will do the same against Chelsea.

Every paper will be carrying stories about this latest spat. Managers know their players are going to read it and Manchester United players are used to it. They know how their manager deals with situations like this.

When Ferguson goes in the paper it won't be to talk about somebody in the middle of the table - more often than not it will be one of his keenest rivals. You only have to look at what he did to Kevin Keegan a decade ago. If you look at footage of that interview it is clear how much it got to Keegan.'