Arsene Wenger makes Jose Mourinho plea ahead of final Old Trafford trip as Arsenal boss

Yes, it is Wenger, the “specialist in failure” and “voyeur”, against “out of order, disconnected and disrespectful” Jose Mourinho.

“When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent,” Wenger once said of his rival. That sort of thing tends to stick.

But going into this clash between two teams 16 and 33 points off the lead respectively, when those coals are raked over ahead of this last trip to the Theatre of Dreams, he asks disarmingly for a bit of perspective.

“Will I be friends with Jose? It depends,” he grins. “I respect him a lot of course. You should give me a little bit of peace for my final weeks, don’t push me into a final confrontation. I want to go peaceful and Mourinho as well, he’s a great manager.”

Of course, it was a very different matter with Sir Alex Ferguson.

The pair are friends now, mutual respect overwhelming the spats of the past that accompanied their jockeying for top spot.

Virtually from the moment he set foot in England, Wenger’s biannual clashes with the United manager became the must-watch battles of the Premier League.

For almost a decade they vied for top spot – during a nine-year period starting just before Wenger took over, the only names scratched on the oversize trophy were that of Manchester United and Arsenal. And then it stopped.

Arsenal’s ability to challenge for titles all but disappeared after the Invincible season of 2003-04. United, by contrast, were reinvented by Ferguson – a regeneration Wenger was never able to achieve at the Emirates.

United spent three more years finishing top of the pile between 2007 and 2009 and it is only now, during this period of retrospection, that Wenger appreciates what an achievement that was.

“United is a massive club with fantastic players,” he said. “When I go back I realise what a great team they were.

“They had Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney together as young players. Ruud Van Nistelrooy and all these players together.

“Then you see what they have done later and that shows the challenge. They had an unbelievable team. I realise that better at a distance than at the time.”

That second wind in Manchester coincided with Arsenal’s move to a new stadium and the financial constraints that came with it for a number of years.

“We had to change our philosophy when we moved to the Emirates,” Wenger said. 

“But maybe in the short term it punished us a bit in terms of potential championship. In the very long term it was the right decision.”

Things could have worked out very differently, of course. It could have been the Frenchman in the home dugout tomorrow. When Ferguson announced his decision to retire in 2002, it was at Wenger’s door United chairman Martin Edwards first came knocking.

“Yes, yes, I speak to everyone and yes I met Martin Edwards,” Wenger said. “Many people came to see me in my home but I was always loyal to this club.

“I’ve turned many, many clubs down to stay here. I’ve had the challenge of moving to the stadium here. It’s just the way I feel in my life. Arsenal is the love of my life.”

In reality, it could not have been any other way. The image from 2009 when Wenger was sent to the stands only to find himself arms outstretched perched on a wall in front of a baying mob is an iconic one. 

It has always been Him against Them. “I don’t know what kind of reception I will get,” he admitted. “I will be focused on winning the game.

“There have been some great battles in 22 years. If I get a good reception I will take it.”

One thing for sure is he will not be getting too emotional. Wenger is convinced that life after Arsenal will still involve European football with one of the bigger clubs on the continent, so who knows.

“I will say goodbye to everybody but in France we say au revoir, which means we might see you again.”

In his heart, Wenger must have wished it sounded like more of a threat than a forlorn promise.