Have Arsenal lost their fear and is Wenger v Mourinho record next?

It has been really annoying and a sore point for Arsenal fans that we had failed to make the most of the problems at Manchester United since their long serving manager Alex Ferguson stepped down almost two years ago.

We have been on the wrong end of many results against Fergie’s United, including goals by our former captain van Persie in his first three games against us since listening to the little boy inside and turning his back on the club and manager that had made him what he was.

So still being able to record a win over them under David Moyes, when they were losing games to the likes of Sunderland, Swansea, Stoke and the Spuds, suggested that the Gunners had a mental block. It was not just United either, as last season saw Arsenal struggle against all the big clubs. And the home loss this season was perhaps the most frustrating, even though we did play better and were very unlucky.

But we were better at Chelsea this year, we drew at Liverpool and beat Man City on the road and it seemed as though Wenger and the players were getting this fear out of their systems. A first win at Old Trafford in nine years is the latest step for us and the manager believes it was the lack of fear we took into the game that brought about the result, as a report on the Arsenal website reveals.

Wenger said, “I’m very happy because it was an important game for us. To go to an opponent like Manchester United in the FA Cup, in a direct knockout, you have to win.

“Mentally we were prepared and started on the front foot without any apprehension. We put them under pressure from the start and overall, we deserved to win the game.

“[Winning here shows that] we are improving and progressing. To win a big game helps to increase the belief of the team.”

So you could say that the Man City win set us up for this FA cup win over United. And that will help us to perform in the future in big games. We have big home league games coming up against Liverpool and Chelsea next month and we should have no fear going in to them. Could Wenger’s record against Mourinho be the next to go?

Tags Chelsea United

28 Comments

  1. Some haters will find a way to piss on achieving che win as they did by saying city missed yaya and werent in form, same way as they say worst utd team in long time and were there for taking ect ect. They would find something to say in knocking us. They never mention though how we have missed so many players and had new players bedding in so fuk the lot of them.

    1. If the boys in blue last night were Chelski and not Arsenal you can be sure the media sycophants would be shouting “Mourinho – tactical genius, mind-games specialist blah, blah” from the roof tops. They would be banging on about LVG only having 2 losses in 22 games etc and not how poor they were. Thats how it rolls nowadays – que sera sera. Still pumped though and don’t care tbh.

      1. ya i don’t care anymore either we just have to learn to deal with it cause i don’t think they’ll ever stop slamming us (unfairly or not). but I’m watching the game again and we pressed up HIGH from the start so it was great tactics by wenger and co

        1. Yes, I watched it again in full last night. Amazing how you can properly chill when you know the result and how you pick up on SO much more that you missed during the emotional meltdown of the live game – love doing it, really rewarding.

          1. Hahah EXACTLY i was a bundle of nerves watching it at first. now I’m looking at little things like cazorla and le coq in the center. But dude idk if I’m the only one but ramsey played well yesterday but he was making me SO mad just charging up the field at every second. cazorla played his part like he was supposed to as a 2 man midfield, ramsey leaves coquelin on his own

    2. @YingYan69

      “So fuk the lot of them” is a bit harsh haha.

      You have to remember that a lot of haters, as you’ve put it, basically go on what they see game to game, making their decisions based on factual evidence. Sadly AKB’s, like yourself, constantly ignore facts.

      A nice piece of factual evidence for you to try and defend on Wenger’s behalf. A lot fans down the years, including myself, have defended Wenger for not being able to get world class players in, and more importantly…the correct players for the weak areas of the first team, due to the lack of funds. This is true. But, Wenger has had lots of cash to spend over the last two summer transfer windows, and still refuses to sort out the weak areas which cost us every season. Mainly the DM and CF positions. It definitely cost the title last season, and same again this season. So please explain why Wenger keeps doing this? Because no one in world football understands this. Even if you blame injuries for the teams failings, then another question would be, why does Wenger never ever plan for injuries?

      I thought Arsenal, and Arsene were fantastic last night, and I hope we can kick on from here, but then again I thought the same after the ManC win, and looked what happened there. Next two tough games were a defeat at Spurs, and a tactical footballing lesson from a depleted Monaco at the Emirates. And you wonder why there are haters, although I prefer realists!

      I still want Wenger out in the summer, but if he consistently starts making normal and sensible decisions until the end of the season, wins the a trophy, and finally does the right thing in the transfer market…then I’d give him my support for another season. I still think Arsenal should get Diego Simeone though. The football isn’t as stylish, but is certainly effective.

  2. Can we get an article on Ox Chamerlain,i like that guy and i think he is so underrated bt him and sanchez know hw to tear defences apart…although he doesnt score alot The Ox offers us alot!

    1. So disappointing. Comes back, gets a goal and an assist in 2 games, and is out again. Get well soon Ox.

  3. This win along with the city win and the almost in liv should really be pointing to a corner turned. It will be hugely difficult in snatching a win at che but at least now we can be confident in our players putting up a fight. The main thing is to not gift them any chances as thats where/how the game was lost in past, we have been our own worst enemy. If we are to cut out silly mistakes we do look a force.

  4. What happened regarding Walcott last night?

    When Ox got injured, Walcott stripped off to get ready to come on, then Ramsey was put on.

    Did Wenger call Walcott and then quickly changed his mind?

    Would have been like for like substitute Walcott for Ox. Instead, Ramsay came on and Ozil, Cazorla changed positions.

    Does Walcott still have injury problem?

    Not complaining or anything, just interested. Im surprised Walcott hasn’t played much and didn’t play last night.

    1. Yes I was curious too – seemed a little odd. Maybe Theo was getting ahead of himself seeing it was AOC coming off and made an assumption!!?? Anyway, think many of us fret too much about who isn’t getting game time etc etc. Confidant Wenger rates Theo more than most on here – got a feeling he is feeding him back in REAL slow. Not to mention it is not a done thing that he even figures in a 1st X1 – we are witnessing something we are not familiar with here – some real strength in depth for a change.

  5. Ox played a great 45 minutes but once again an injury. It was in the first few minutes after the restart so his muscles could of been cold. But we have seen this far too many times. Something needs to be done about the training methods. We need a healthy Ox!

  6. I’m my opinion to say that we are fearful of the big teams is inaccurate and misleading. What I attribute to our lack of results against the big teams Is overexuberance and naivety.

    We would go gung ho and try to score without keeping our discipline, shape etc and when we wouldn’t score or concede we’d hang our heads in defeat. And it seemed like we had no plan B and we’d try to play the same way without altering our approach.

    1. Spot on. Is Wenger getting soft in his old age and finally appreciating that setting up and playing not to lose is sometimes a lot more important than trying to play everyone off the park. I am very interested to know how much this “let the other side have possession” tactic is from the training ground and by pure design – it is the antithesis of everything Wenger has stood for. But the catalogue of sub 40% possession Arsenal wins is getting more impressive by the week. I saw a stat a few weeks ago for Arsenal’s 10 lowest possession games in the PL era – 9W 1D!!!

      1. holy hell id have to see that stat to believe thats so weird thinking about an arsenal team with such low possession. but i think a big influencing factor in the previous games (where we had low possession %’s) is our lack of rotation and ever present injuries.

        I think naturally fatigue had set in since we’ve been essentially playing the same players week in and week out so they just sat back and let the team come on to them since we didn’t have the necessary energy levels but just my 2 cents

  7. “Yes. Welbeck. Good finish nice to see him back at utd.”
    Wayne Rooney(@WayneRooney) June12, 2011…
    LMFAO…

  8. I was thinking this was on our to do list, as we work our way down it and tick off little victories…ie..winning at Old Trafford in a crucial match.

    There is nothing in common with Wenger and Mourinho, they don’t even share a letter in there surname. The battles will always be fierce and I know Chelsea will be sore losers when the time comes…and it is coming

  9. Saw the game again. COQ’s nose looking awful. Let the lad rest, at least FLAMINI is back!

  10. Anyone else watching the Madrid vs Shalke match? I can tell you now, Max Meyer is pure filth. We need to see him at Arsenal. He reminds me of Mario Götze. Tricky little guy with a quality eye for a pass. Cazorla and Rosicky, who are obviously still quality, but are also getting on a bit. Meyer is only 19. He would be a good replacement in the coming years if you ask me.

    1. I agree 100% I’ve always rated him way more than Draxler. Draxler I’s overrated Meyer is the real talent.

    2. I agree – looked very impressive but have to say RM looked absolutely f**kin awful defensively. Looked like us at our worst – the spaces that opened up in the middle of the park were frightening. Also was thinking about all the fuss on here a short time back (3 months BC (Before Coquelin)) about Khedira being someone to “sort us out” in the DM area. Not so sure then and even less convinced now.

  11. Ox has loads of potential and I hope Wenger can help him grow…

    He has skill,pace and works really hard in defence.

    He’s only problem is his final decision making and execution.

    Most of the time he’s crosses aren’t good enough or he’s final pass is lacking…he’s also pretty bad in front of goal.

    I think its up to Wenger to transform him to Hazard standard…he only needs to fix that aspect of his game then he’ll be better than him.

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