Arsène Wenger ready for duel with José Mourinho after shortest of summers

  

Wenger spent the off-season working at Arsenal’s training ground instead of on holiday and before Sunday’s curtain-raiser with Chelsea believes this is possibly his best side since the Invincibles of 2003-04

The most telling insight, perhaps, came when Arsène Wenger was asked how he had recovered after the exertions of another long and draining season. José Mourinho holidayed in the Algarve. Louis van Gaal had his “paradise in Portugal”, a short distance up the coast at Vale do Lobo, and Brendan Rodgers pepped up his tan in Marbella. Wenger, on the other hand, preferred to spend his summer just off junction 22 of the M25. “I had no break at all,” he explained. “I recovered at the training ground.”

His one trip away was to Morocco for a charity football match as part of the Marrakech du Rire festival. Otherwise, Arsenal’s manager has spent just about every day at London Colney, plotting his next moves in a largely deserted training ground and dining in the canteen sometimes with only the groundsmen for company. “I had a few days off, but I spent most of my summer at the training ground,” he said. “Not the whole holiday, but most of it. When I go on the beach I am in the press the next day. Where do you want me to go? So I go to the training ground.”

Wenger is always amused that his 24-7 obsessiveness is a matter of interest, but he did not look like he needed a more orthodox holiday and clearly still buoyed by the manner in which Arsenal swept aside Aston Villa in possibly the most one-sided FA Cup final there has ever been.

His firm belief is that Arsenal are ready to mount a more credible title challenge this season and, preparing to take the FA Cup winners into the Community Shield, his face did not even sour too much when Mourinho’s name was mentioned and Wenger was reminded that he had never beaten the man who labelled him a “specialist in failure” in 13 attempts.

Mourinho has started early this season with his pointed little barbs, but Wenger’s message to the journalists in his company was that he would rather not get involved if he could avoid it. “I will leave you and your love story with him to continue without interference,” he said. Wenger once said something similar about how the press acted towards Sir Alex Ferguson – “what I don’t understand,” he complained at the height of Arsenal’s rivalry with Manchester United, “is that he does what he wants and you are at all his feet” – but there was an irony here, too. Mourinho’s perception is that the press are actually in love with Arsenal’s manager. Ferguson used to think the same.

“It’s all about love,” Wenger said, when that was pointed out to him. He was, in fairness, laughing and his antipathy towards Mourinho was restrained; for now, at least.

Whether that will last is debatable and, if anything, it is likely the tensions will increase if Wenger is right with his belief that Arsenal now have the right blend of talent and experience to sustain an authentic challenge.

Wenger has made these kind of bold statements before, but the difference this summer is that his team have gone through the close-season free of stress and with no real threat that another club might lure away one of their star performers.

“Before, we always lost big players and then everyone would quickly question us,” Wenger said. “This is the first time for a long time we have all had confidence in our environment.”

That, according to Wenger, has left Arsenal with possibly their best team since the team of Invincibles was broken up. “Certainly the most experienced,” he said.

“We have always had talented teams but most of the time, after 2006 when we moved into the stadium, they were very young. We have the better balance between talent and experience now. And when you go into April you need that experience.

“Have we enough talent? I believe so, yes. And the expectations are very high. You cannot win the Cup and finish third in the league and then say: ‘Look, next year we want to do nothing.’ So the ingredients are there but I am long enough in the job to know we have to prove that with points.

“Chelsea were dominant last season. Manchester United are very active on the transfer market, Liverpool as well and Manchester City have bought [Raheem] Stirling and will certainly buy more.”

Wenger has also been encouraged by the presence and authority of his new goalkeeper, Petr Cech, left, and the sense that the 33-year-old will bring the kind of calmness and organisation that Arsenal’s defence has often lacked. His only regret is that he did not beat Chelsea to Cech’s signing when he first became available at Rennes.

“One of my assistants Boro Primorac has a son who was playing in Rennes and he had told us they had a very good goalkeeper. So we knew about him,” said the Frenchman. “Before he went to Chelsea we were interested and the guy who brought him to Chelsea, one of the agents, was a good friend of mine. He told me there was an exceptional keeper at Rennes. But I think Chelsea were a bit quicker than us.”

The list of players Wenger has tried and failed to sign before attaining top-grade status is considerable – and, for Arsenal’s fans, a source of constant frustration – but in Cech’s case there is at least a sense that it is better late than never. “His move is a bit like Edwin van der Sar at that age,” Wenger said. “Van der Sar went from Fulham to Man United and still had six years in him. So I don’t see why Petr should not have a few years with us.

“He is very serious, he trains well. He has a good combination between quality, agility and size and he always looked like he was built for English football. I think he is a very bright goalkeeper as well and he has an intimidating presence, that is for sure. He makes the goals look small. That’s the kind of charisma he has.”

Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino made to wait by Liverpool

New signings not included in squad to face Helsinki on Saturday 
• Emre Can, Alberto Moreno, Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen will also not feature

Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino will have to wait for their first appearance in a Liverpool shirt after being left out of the trip to Finland for Saturday’s pre-season friendly against HJK Helsinki.

Brendan Rodgers has taken a 16-man squad to the game at the Olympic Stadium but there is no place for the club’s highest-profile summer signings Benteke and Firmino, who have not featured in pre-season since their respective moves from Aston Villa and Hoffenheim.

Firmino was given extended leave having played for Brazil in the Copa América earlier this summer, thereby missing Liverpool’s tour of the far east and Australia, while Benteke did not complete his £32.5m move until that tour was nearing its end.

Both have stayed behind to work on their fitness at Melwood before the Premier League opener at Stoke City on 9 August but could make an appearance in Sunday’s final friendly of the summer at Swindon Town. Rodgers has yet to announce his plans for the Swindon game but, with Stoke only a week away, he could select a strong side at the County Ground.

Emre Can, Alberto Moreno, Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen are among the senior players who will also miss the Helsinki friendly. However, new arrivals Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings, James Milner and Divock Origi will all feature in Finland, with the promising 18-year-old Spanish midfielder Pedro Chirivella also on Friday’s flight.

Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and José Enrique will take no part in either of the weekend friendlies having been excluded from Rodgers’s plans as the Liverpool manager encourages all three to find a new club this summer.