This time it’s right for Arsene
Mourinho can’t resist dig at Wenger
THERE was never going to be a wrong time for Arsene Wenger finally to beat Jose Mourinho.
But could victory in his 16th competitive attempt be very much The Right Time?
Despite the clamour for him to leave, the Arsenal board have been waiting patiently for months for an appropriate moment to announce the 67-year-old’s opinion-dividing two-year contract extension.
“Any decisions will be made by us mutually and communicated at the right time,” chairman Sir Chips Keswick said two months ago.
Short of winning the FA Cup, an emphatic victory over fierce rivals managed by such a despised enemy might just be as “right” as things get.
Certainly, for once everybody at the Emirates was united in their delight at Mourinho’s undoing and with Liverpool only drawing earlier in the day, this was undoubtedly a long overdue good day for the Gunners.
Furthermore, if the speculation is finally ended, perhaps it will focus the entire club on continuing Wenger’s remarkable achievement in always qualifying for the Champions League, which for all the current euphoria still remains in Liverpool’s hands.
At least the win puts Arsenal in a stronger position than United. Mourinho proved as good as his word by making eight changes from the side he picked to take care of the serious business – winning the Europa League.
It is a calculated attempt to book a Champions League spot by a different route, one that leads directly to the group stages rather than the play-offs, which await the fourth-placed Premier League side.
But his shadow side were unable to stand up to a far better Arsenal performance than the one at White Hart Lane.
Wenger was clearly in Churchillian mood coming into the game, judging by his programme notes. “Even if we have to suffer, we are ready to do it,” he wrote. “We just want to win the game.”
In truth, the pace was a bit more pedestrian than the rhetoric and until Granit Xhaka’s lucky opening strike in the 54th minute this was a far cry from the classic Arsenal battles with United of old. In contrast to the lazy, looping arc the ball took once Xhaka’s hopeful 25-yard shot deflected off the back of Ander Herrera to wrong-foot David De Gea, Danny Welbeck’s purposeful header three minutes later at least went in like a bullet.
Huge credit for the assist must go to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, on a wing-back fast-track learning curve since Wenger changed to a back three in a desperate attempt to show he is capable of reinvention.
The system has made Arsenal more resilient, as United found to their cost. Their secondstring attack failed to pick them apart, even when it was bolstered by substitutes Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford. United had their chances, and
JOSE MOURINHO took a swipe at Arsene Wenger as he suffered his first defeat by the Frenchman in 13 league games and admitted finishing in the top four is now “impossible” for Manchester United.
“Arsenal fans are happy and I’m happy for them,” said United manager Mourinho, above. “It’s the first time I have left and they’re happy. I leave the Emirates before this and they were crying, walking the streets with heads low.
“You think I enjoy a big club like Arsenal not winning trophies? I don’t enjoy it. Arsene Wenger is a big manager. To have that record of winning so many matches is not