Arsene Wenger: Let the Mind Games Begin

Over the past week, Arsene Wenger's managerial credentials have come under intense scrutiny, from the media and fans alike. So it was always going to be interesting to listen to what the man had to say during the mandatory press conference before Arsenal's UEFA Champions League game against Fenerbahce.

Many expected him to sound like a broken record, with people expecting him to point to Arsenal's "resilience", "potential" and "strength of character."

They were so wrong.

The Arsenal manager wasted very little time in settling in and launched a tirade against certain Stoke City players. In fact, it sounded like it was very much in the moment. However, this man has been in football for over 20 years and knows how to deflect attention off his beleaguered charges.

And that's exactly what he did.

In what seemed to be a response to Thomas Sorensen's "spineless" comment, Wenger came out and gave a good account of his counter-attacking skills.

"For me, you need to have more courage to play football when you know somebody is tackling you from behind without any intention to play the ball, with only one intention to hurt you and I can show you some tackles where I can prove what I say," said Wenger.

Wenger went on to suggest that Rory Delap, who was credited with two assists during the game, along with Ryan Shawcross attempted to injure Arsenal players deliberately.

"Do you really feel that Delap tried to play the ball when he tackled Walcott or that Shawcross tried to play the ball when he tackled Adebayor off the pitch? All the players have been injured deliberately."

Many neutrals can be forgiven for thinking that this is yet another moment of "whinging" from the Arsenal manager. But this time, Arsene Wenger has begun the mind-games ahead of the game against Manchester United (on Saturday) in earnest.

By coming out and tacitly condemning the referee's role in allowing such tackles, Le Boss has also put some pressure on the referee who will take charge of the game. Referees are always prone to being affected subconsciously by managers coming out and making statements about a "lack of protection."

This situation will be no different.

By condemning certain Stoke City players, Arsene Wenger also deflected attention from his own squad's weaknesses. He didn't seem to have his regular composure during the piece, and the recent happenings have clearly affected him at some level.

He went on to say in the press conference:

"We lost a game but we are six points behind the leaders, it is the start of November and we have plenty of quality to get it back. The same people who say we are not good, let them say it in three weeks when we are the best."

The above statement might make Wenger look really stupid at the end of the three weeks or may even make him look like a prophet. Either way, this is a calculated risk.

In the larger scheme of things though, Arsene Wenger has ensured that he has begun the mind games which are generally initiated by his opponent on Saturday—and the very nature of this attack seems to suggest that he wants to ensure that in addition to the home advantage for the game against Manchester United, the referee gets on his team's side too.

Maybe Wenger is learning from Rafa Benitez's ways. Let's just hope that he gets the Liverpool manager's luck too.