Arsene Wenger Vs. Sir Alex Ferguson: An Intense Rivalry

The last 12 years have seen a very interesting rivalry that developed and somewhat fizzled out between two heavyweights of English football.

Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson led the respective revivals of both their teams, but their personal rivalry has been something of a spectacle for Arsenal and Manchester United fans alike.

In its prime, this rivalry would spark outrage amongst both their camps. The thrill that both sets of fans experienced while watching a match between both these teams was immense. You could almost see the impassioned hatred between both the managers in their pre-match quotes and post-match press conferences.

This manifested itself in their teams as well, and one of the most notable bust-ups occurred before a match between the two teams in the Highbury tunnel in 2004, between Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane.

Sir Alex enjoyed unrivaled success in the 1990s, but the end of that decade brought "The Professor" to England. As soon as he arrived, he felt the royalty which surrounded the Manchester United boss and his team. He immediately complained about how he felt that the fixture list favoured an already dominant team.

"It's wrong the programme is extended so Man Utd can rest and win everything," said Arsene Wenger when Ferguson got an extension after a Champions League match so that his players could get some rest, a request which most Premier League teams agreed to.

Ferguson quipped back, "He's a novice and should keep his opinions to Japanese football." He perhaps underestimated Wenger's prowess a bit too soon.

The rivalry intensified after these war of words, and Arsenal won a couple of league titles, much to the surprise Sir Alex Ferguson. The "novice" had slowly crept up on him and he knew that he was in for a fight. When Arsenal beat United to the league title in 2002, Sir Alex's frustration was palpable:

"They are scrappers who rely on belligerence—we are the better team," said Sir Alex, rather surprisingly when Arsenal had won the league by 10 points. Wenger then gave a response, which I still remember, "Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home."

This retort made Ferguson apologise for that statement, and he said that he had made those comments "off the record."

The next season saw Arsenal open up a sizeable gap in February and Wenger was in a confident mood. Only he didn't know that Arsenal's dramatic collapse was just around the corner. In that run up to February, Arsenal were head and shoulders above Man Utd, but Wenger spoke a bit prematurely when he said, "I am still hopeful we can go through the season unbeaten."

That statement came back to haunt him at the end of the season in 2003, when Ferguson's Manchester United won the title and Ferguson seemed to have had the last laugh. He remarked then about Arsenal, "I'm sure they'd love to turn the clock back—it might come back to haunt them."

Arsenal, though, won the league unbeaten the season after.

That season also saw the ugly scenes at Old Trafford in a match between the two teams—where Ruud van Nistelrooy missed a game-winning penalty late in the match. The fracas that took place after the game saw several Arsenal players suspended, and Sir Alex able to take the moral high ground.

He said a year after that match (before facing an Arsenal chasing their 50 unbeaten league game record), "They got away with murder. What the Arsenal players did was the worst I have witnessed in sport."

Wenger gave a response which was quite straightforward, "Maybe it would be better if you have put us up against a wall and shot us all. I hope that he will calm down."

Arsenal, of course went on to lose that infamous game 2-0, after Wayne Rooney had conned the referee Mike Riley into giving Manchester United a penalty.

The aftermath of the match saw a very ugly side of the rivalry. Arsene Wenger even said on French television when asked about Ferguson that he "will not talk about that man."

The game also featured the infamous "pizza-gate" incident, where an Arsenal player threw a slice of pizza at the Manchester United boss. Wenger, in his post-match press conference, also went on to call van Nistelrooy "a cheat" for which he was reprimanded.

Even the Premier League chiefs were taken aback by the intense rivalry between the two managers. Peace talks had to be held between David Gill and David Dein, and the matter seemed to have been settled in an uneasy manner.

The newcomer to the league, Jose Mourinho, watched on with glee as Chelsea, the new boys on the block, went on to win the title that season.

Arsenal have since then gone off the pace, and last season was one where they really mounted a challenge for the first time in three seasons. The acrimony between the managers seemed to have reduced to such a level that there was a mutual respect in their pre-match and post-match press conferences.

The teams also didn't seem to have the same sort of aggression on the pitch, and with the likes of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira moving on, a new generation of players seemed to bring a different approach to what used to be a tense affair.

Even when Arsenal outplayed Manchester United and lost at Old Trafford last season, Sir Alex praised his opponents and even had a word of sympathy for Wenger after the match. These scenes would have never been possible a few years ago.

There now seems to be a mutual respect between both the teams. Chelsea have also established their credentials, but the "Big Four" has lost the excitement of having two managers who, at one point, so passionately hated each other.

It's odd, but I miss the days when Wenger and Ferguson used to go at each other's throats. The teams always used to play with the aggression and hunger, which seems to have died down today.

Let's hope that the rivalry gets re-ignited this season. Then again, I somehow don't see it reaching the heights of the rivalry in the years gone by!