Wenger’s tantrum still in the spotlight

ARSENE WENGER has grown accustomed to seeing analysis of his methods spill over into unfettered adulation, but now he finds himself subjected to a different, less flattering, brand of scrutiny.

It is six days since the Arsenal manager’s touchline tête-à-tête with his West Ham adversary Alan Pardew, and the memory of the pair’s ugly shoving match in the frenetic aftermath of Marlon Harewood’s late winner is already fading.

But the ramifications rumble on: both men have been charged with misconduct by the FA. Hefty fines and, more significantly, touchline bans loom if they are found guilty. Tomorrow, Arsenal step back into the Premiership fray for the first time since the Battle of Upton Park. The occasion is one of the season’s red-letter fixtures — Liverpool’s first visit to the Emirates stadium — and the media’s gaze will be fixed not just on Arsenal, but on the man who leads them, with every agitated grimace or tortured gesture liable to be used as proof of Wenger’s enervated state of mind.

How the Frenchman will react is anybody’s guess. He is certainly not shedding any light on the matter: having refused to speak to the media directly after the clash with Pardew and the Carling Cup victory over Everton on Wednesday, he also cancelled his weekly pre-match press conference. That, in itself, is news: it was the first time in 10 years that Wenger, whose willingness to speak openly about any topic, no matter how controversial, has been one of his most admirable traits, has gone incommunicado.

The subsequent information vacuum has left plenty of room for pundits to expound on Wenger’s existential angst. According to Professor Cary Cooper, the head of the Organisational Psychology and Health department at Lancaster University, Wenger’s decision to keep his counsel is due to feeling “a bit embarrassed” by what he did to Alan Pardew. “He is normally a gentleman — very calm and sophisticated. If you are the kind of guy who buries emotions like Arsene Wenger, then everybody will be shocked with an incident like this.”

Perhaps, but an alternative psychological study of Wenger could be summed up in just three words: he hates losing. He may spare his players the hairdryer treatment so beloved of Ferguson, but opponents are clearly considered fair game, particularly when he is fuelled by a sense of injustice, and this has been a peculiarly angst-ridden season.

Most recently, there have been loud and lengthy protests at opponents refusing to allow Arsenal’s cavaliers the time and space to perfect their rat-a-tat passing moves. His annoyance was focussed on Everton although similar mutterings had been aimed at Martin O’Neill, Stuart Pearce and Gareth Southgate this season.

Wenger is never short of a target, but perhaps his greatest grievance should be with his own team. Arsenal are the most swaggeringly exuberant team in the country, but they are also the most profligate. No other Premiership side has made less of the chances they have created this season and consequently they trail leaders Manchester United by 10 points. In that light, his volcanic reaction to Pardew’s histrionics becomes more understandable, if not justified.

“All managers get upset when things are not going their way,” Terry Neil, one of Wenger’s predecessors at Arsenal, said, “but I’ve got to say I was disappointed with Arsene. I had hoped he would have been bigger than that. I’m sure, being the intelligent man that he is, he will regret his actions once he has reflected on them.”

The potential for more pyrotechnics tomorrow is limited, if only by the greater space afforded the managers on the touchline in Arsenal’s sparkling new home, although Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, is not ready to allow his rival to forget his indiscretion.

“What happened at Upton Park was a bad example to set,” he said yesterday. “When I was a teacher I would see players scoring goals and kicking out the corner flag. Kids copied that, repeating what they had seen on the television.

“A lot of children watch our games so we have a responsibility to control our emotions and be calm. We know we’re under pressure but this is also our job and we have to show that we are professional and have respect for each other.”

Wenger will probably not appreciate Benitez’s advice, but he should heed it. It is not just his Premiership title hopes which hang by a thread at the Emirates today: it is his reputation.