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Wenger Will Miss Fergie Rivalry

No matter how many times Chelsea buys, I mean wins the league, or how many times they play Liverpool in cup competitions, the biggest game, and rivial in modern Premiership football is Arsenal v Manchester United. No question.

So with Sir Alex Ferguson's 20 year anniversary only a week away, Arsene Wenger has spoken out about their intense rivalry over the past ten years.

If you pay close attention to Mr. Wenger's words you can almost feel the fondess of the battles between the two over the years, and should Mr Ferguson choose to retire, AW would not be the only one to miss the pair engaging in a battle of wits.

'I believe it would be very difficult for him (Ferguson) to quit football, because it is an addiction when you stay in that sport so long,' he told France Football.

'I am happy he has decided to go on. I am happy because I know against who I have to fight. I know I will face a Manchester United team difficult to defeat.'

'I will miss our rivalry if he would leave. I don't believe there is another rivalry comparable to ours in English football.'

'Our mental duels keep me awake. His only weakness is to believe he has no weakness. Football is dear to his heart.'

Wenger also gave the surreal mental imagry of the pair actually having a laugh when they bump into one another in airports on away days.

'When we meet sometimes in an airport or Uefa meetings we don't fight! Those meetings are even funny,' he continued. 'When there is no match, we have exciting talks about football.'

'There is no bitterness in our relationship. I don't know the man, but I respect the coach.'

And while I personally don't like Alex Ferguson the man, you can only have respect for a person who has been with the same team for 20 years and brought so many trophies to one club.

Lets keep the rivalry going for many years to come I say.




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Writer: Rocky7 Mail feedback, articles or suggestions

Date:Tuesday October 31 2006

Time: 4:31PM

Your Comments

Heh, I suspected the last couple years that Arsene and Alex had a lot more respect for each other then they were willing to admit. I think Chelsea's rise to the top of the EPL has helped soften the harshness of the Arsenal/Man U rivalry, along with many of the key players moving on. And really, the last two matches they've played (both at Old Trafford) were just beautiful to watch...two attack-minded teams playing free flowing football, instead of trying to go after each other shins. As intense and exciting as their encounters were before, I wouldn't mind seeing more games of the caliber played in May and September over the next few years.
Shinobi
I actually comment to my friend on the eve of the last game that alot of the nastiness would be gone as a large percentage of the player on the pitch will not have tasted the true bitterness of an Arsenal Man Utd game.
Rocky7
 

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