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.