Arsene Wenger tries to explain that old cliché: "They were absolutely flying in training"

It’s like reading the weather forecast, suggests the man who has navigated through the Emirates storm clouds again.

It’s one of the traditional phrases that crop up in post-match inquests in all codes, but particularly after GAA matches:

“They were absolutely flying in training.”

In some cases, it’s offered by way of confirmation that the virtuoso performance we’ve just witnessed is no surprise to the manager. In fact, the subtext might be that it’s all down to the manager and his tireless engineering back at the hangar.

Handily, the phrase can also be employed to establish some distance between the performance and a beleaguered gaffer.  As if to say: they were grand the last time I had any control over them, but I can’t go out there and pilot the blessed thing myself.

The sister verdict — they were stuck to the ground in training — is another useful tool in the criticism-deflection effort. In other words: “This shambles might be a surprise to ye, but I saw it coming a long time ago, but what can you do?”

Now, as he prepares to face old adversary Jose Mourinho on Sunday, Arsene Wenger has kindly taken time out to explain to us just how you decide whether or not a team is flying in the run-up to a big game.

“The general plan is to play in training like you do in the game, or even harder,” Wenger told the Arsenal Magazine. “But some days you have to ease off completely and not have the intensity because you need to recover after games. But basically you need to give the players the same intensity that they will face in a game.”

“Even the day before a game you can think to yourself, ‘That intensity is absolutely amazing, the players are ready to go out tomorrow and perform at that level.”

“The team always gives you a vibe in training, like a weather forecast. Sometimes you think, ‘Yes, that’s right, they are there’. Or other times you think, ‘Nope, they have switched off, they’ll have to work on their concentration otherwise they will have a disillusion on Saturday’.

“It’s never set though, you always have to adjust it a little bit because every day you face a different problem. Sometimes its physical, sometimes it’s the concentration levels, sometimes it’s the harmony in the side.

As many a manger before him has discovered, it's not easy to get things airborne, if you've got a couple of lads sulking about their own grounded ambitions.

Arsene isn't naming any names here, but it's clear he's had to coax around a few disgruntled squad members during weeks like this.

“Sometimes it could be one or two players who are disillusioned. These can all pull the energy levels down so you always have to correct and adjust things to get it right for the next game.”