Wenger sounds rallying call

THE spite that once shrouded meetings between Arsenal and Chelsea may have evaporated with the departure of Jose Mourinho, but the significance of tomorrow’s latest squabble between north and west London has rarely been greater.

Defeat for either Arsene Wenger and Avram Grant would inflict a potentially fatal blow to their hopes of wrestling the Premier League title from Manchester United, who could be six points clear at the top of the table by the time their sides walk out at Stamford Bridge. Against such a heady backdrop, it is no wonder the rival managers consider a war of words superfluous.

Wenger loathed the intensely personal nature of Mourinho’s mind games. The dark references to voyeurism and secret dossiers provided a poisonous preface to inevitably bad-tempered matches and Wenger resented having to defend his character against such jibes.