mancityblues.com

OK, hands up you City fans who have a secret liking for Arsene and Arsenal. Except when we play them, of course. You have to admire what M. Wenger has done in his twelve years in charge, I certainly do. Just look at his career;

Previously managed; Nagoya Grampus Eight, AS Monaco, AS Nancy
Honours:
Grampus Eight - J-League Super Cup 1996, Emperor’s Cup 1996; Monaco - French championship 1987-88, French Cup 1991
Arsenal - FA Premier League 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04; FA Cup 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005;

Known as a devotee of "the beautiful game" which has been reviled in some quarters as "style over substance", he continues to tread his own path, and has become one of the most respected "crusty old Frenchmen" in the business. This is from an old BBC4 biog;

"AC Milan rejected him for looking too much like a schoolmaster, and distrustful players tagged him "Clouseau" on his first day in England. But in the six years since he became Arsenal's mystery manager, Arsene Wenger has been credited with transforming British football in general, and the Gunners' fortunes in particular.

The first foreign coach to achieve the historic double of FA Cup and championship trophy, Wenger was never the most talented sportsman himself. In his hometown of Strasbourg, he turned out for a number of amateur sides, but mostly applied himself to his education.

Armed with a Masters in Economics, however, Wenger took his intellect back onto the pitch. He coached a local junior squad, before moving to Cannes, then Nancy.

As Monaco's manager from 1987, Wenger parked his battered Renault beside the Porsches of his superstar players, but championship victory there raised his price.

Although English clubs were hearing the constant patter of continental feet, Wenger was then an unknown. But Arsenal's vice-chairman David Dein had faith in the Frenchman and, after 10 years of persuasion, finally lured him from Japan to Highbury in 1996.

There, Wenger's skills with strategy, players' diets, fitness and injury prevention, have played a massive part in Arsenal's return to form. He led the team to the double in his first 18 months and repeated the feat four years later. "

Arsene Wenger may be fluent in five languages, but is a man of few words, and "no other hobbies". Although he remains calm under pressure, his passion for the pitch is legendary, what his friend Gerard Houllier calls his ability to "eat, talk, sleep and drink football, and then come back for more".

He promotes an image of friendly paternalism, and yet is utterly ruthless in his determination to see good football as it should be played, and more importantly, to win. Any player who stands in the way is quickly dispensed with. He appears to have a genius for buying talent and selling it on at the right time, Viera's departure was a surprise, but he is no longer the player who was the rock in the middle of the team, and goalscorer Henry departed for Barca nursing wounds which gave rise to complaints from the Spanish club over his medical examination and what exactly they bought.

Our panel of "experts" at mancityblues are open and honest about City's chances this weekend;

"Who? me? nah!" is first up;
"I dont care what team or what formation we play. Arsenal will play football, we will play football and it will boil down on the day to which side takes their chances and whether or not our defence makes their all too familiar individual errors. It will be a great game for the footballing purist to watch."

"Frankie" says;
"I think that sums this game up very well. Because of the way Wenger and Arsenal like to play football these are often fairly open contests (as it was on at least one occasion when we played them last season). There will be space a plenty for talented attack midfielders to shine - and we have our fair share of those. City WILL create good chances in this game and we CAN get something out of it, but as w?m!n! says that will all depend on whether or not we actually take those chances, while our defence remains alert enough to frustrate the undoubted plethora of opportunities Arsenal will create at the other end."

(Some past defeat probably)

"I think we’ll score one or two – the tricky bit will be limiting Arsenal to about the same amount or less."

City's home form is reasonable, won four and lost two from the last six played. These high-scoring games have yielded a total of 17 goals for and 8 against.

The Gunners have travelled well recently, with 3 victories and just 1 loss from the last six. With a decent return of 13 goals for and 8 against.

Both clubs have their fair share of injuries, and Arsenal sometimes don't seem to like the weather up north and we can promise they'll get a cold reception at Eastlands tomorrow. If we get behind our team, who knows, this could be our week to shine.

Sorry, Arsene, City don't do rolling over and dying any more, your lads had better be up for it!