Bridging Forces

Don’t believe all that stuff about opposites attracting, because on Sunday 10th December 2006 at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea face the team which, more than any other in the Premiership, is their very antithesis and arguably a degree of mutual respect is the most they could possibly have in common.

You only have to look at their respective managers to see how stark the contrast is. Jose Mourinho, the self-styled “Special One” – confident, arrogant, flamboyant, a little showman who turns a press conference into a sit down version of stand-up and prowls the technical area gesticulating wildly like some ham actor; a man given to mind games and preparation so rigid and meticulous it leaves little room for self-expression. Arsene Wenger, tall, elegant, studious and intense; a man who is equally passionate and competitive, but in an entirely different way – and above all a coach who signs, selects trains and trusts his players to express themselves within a flexible framework.

On the field, the team which is the very epitome of power, efficiency and pragmatism, a team which is all about results, about outcomes, a team which does not consider it their duty to entertain and, both individually and collectively, is not above simulation and haranguing officials, will line up against the team which plays the most beautiful football in the land, a team full of flair, pace, panache, subtlety, sophistication and invention, a team which would be running away with the Premiership, if only they could finish.

It is a mouth watering prospect - though unfortunately on this occasion not as mouth watering as it should be, because Arsenal will be limited by the absence of key players. Both the talismanic Thierry Henry and exciting new signing Tomas Rosicky are injured, Kole Toure is suspended, William Gallas has at best a slim chance of facing his former club and Johann Djourou is doubtful with a hamstring problem. If it turns out that all of them are unavailable, that amounts to almost half a team and in those circumstances, getting a result against a side as obdurate and relentless as Chelsea will almost certainly be too much to expect.

But what you can expect is this. Even without key players, Arsenal will entertain and if they succeed in taking points from Stamford Bridge, it will be deeply humiliating for the Special One and his men.