Jose Mourinho suggested that had
any other manager pushed another manager in the middle of the match, as
Arsene Wenger had done to the
Chelsea man in their recent game, he’d have been treated more harshly.
It’s probably true - but the reason is more damning than some kind of pro-
Arsenal bias
It’s more likely to come from the fact that Wenger, and by extension Arsenal, are no longer really seen as a threat.
In
the past, Wenger’s Arsenal side would have been happy to exchange more
than glances on the pitch, and now you know there’s going to be little
more than a shove.
Arsenal are a spent force, forever playing catch up, but at a pace far slower than those ahead of them are moving.
Before the match against
Hull City,
when the side were gearing up for yet another disappointment due to yet
another injury crisis, Wenger said he would move for a defender in the
January transfer.
For reference, we are now in October, and Arsenal started with
Nacho Monreal in central defence.
Monreal
is an adequate back-up full-back for a Champions League team, and yet
under Wenger he is regularly considered as a worthwhile option in the
middle for the next three months.
As the transfer window closed, Arsenal weighed up making some kind of move for William Carvalho,
the Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder, but with Wenger abroad
refereeing a charity match, the side were only able (or perhaps truly
willing) to sign Danny Welbeck, unable to break into United’s first team as a striker.
This
came after Wenger elected not to sign Cesc Fabregas, who has proven
himself to be perhaps the best midfielder in the Premier League at the
moment, firing Diego Costa and therefore Chelsea to the top of the table.