Prize fighters fuel the fire

Man Utd v Arsenal Old Trafford, 7.45: The youngsters come into their turbulent inheritance at Old Trafford tonight. Relatively callow football players will predominate, particularly in the ranks of the visitors, but not even choirboy manners will ensure a saintly occasion.

The most innocently mistimed tackle tonight will be enough to provoke a crowd geared for outrage.

The authorities might as well set up a permanent unit to deal with these serial offenders, and Arsene Wenger is facing a charge of improper conduct over comments made about Ruud van Nistelrooy in the wake of his team's defeat by United in October.

According to some people, though, the FA should really be calling Nigel Winterburn to explain himself. There is a theory the retired full back unleashed the animosity. After Brian McClair had slapped a late penalty over the bar in an FA Cup-tie that United lost 2-1 at Highbury in 1988, Winterburn mocked him as they ran downfield together.

"It all stems from that one occasion," the forward said of a rumbling feud between the two men.

A challenge between Anders Limpar and Denis Irwin in 1990 was all the excuse it took for McClair and Winterburn to tangle with one another in a brawl that sucked in every player except David Seaman.

"There has been bad blood for a long time," Alex Ferguson agreed recently.

His first meeting with the Highbury club came in 1987. Although David Rocastle was sent off for fighting with Norman Whiteside, Arsenal believed the Northern Ireland international had been responsible for much of the day's violence at Old Trafford.

At heart, this is not a contest that has curdled because of a wild lunge or an uncouth word here or there. George Graham was facing Ferguson for the first time in that 1987 encounter. He knew the aggression owed something to the stereotyped belief that rough treatment would cow "southern softies", and those cliches still linger in the background of United and Arsenal's dealings with one another. That afternoon 17 years ago halted an unbeaten run of 22 matches in all competitions for Graham and he realised his side needed to be tougher.

If the footballers keep on mislaying their good manners when these clubs come together, it is because the Highbury club have come closest to presenting Ferguson with a sustained challenge.

At first at Old Trafford, United's manager saw supremacy over Liverpool as the key to his ambitions. By the early 1990s Arsenal had been identified as the main enemy. For all the impact Graham had, Wenger is the person who has put United on the alert. Each team was soon to get on the other's nerves.

The irritability was close to the surface in a comment Ferguson made about Arsenal in 1999. "They like a scrap," he said. "When they're not doing well in a game they turn it into a battle to make the opposition lose concentration. The number of fights involving Arsenal is more than Wimbledon in their heyday."

Only four players have been sent off in their Premiership matches, but the two most recent dismissals were Arsenal players. Patrick Vieira was shown the red card in the bitter goalless draw at Old Trafford last season. A few months earlier, Sol Campbell merited his second booking for swinging an arm to check Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 2-2 draw at Highbury. That game maintained United's three-point lead, but Ferguson took to the field at the end as if his side had clinched the title.

He and Wenger get on well enough over a glass of wine on coaching courses, but rivalry generally accentuates the differences between them. No manager could impose himself more ruggedly on his players than Ferguson, but the Frenchman feels it is often imperative to withdraw and let the Arsenal side evolve to assume responsibility for itself.

Though Wenger can take pride in some of the sleekest football in the world, his cool and intermittently disdainful manner rankles with the Scot.

Ferguson is probably the better loser. When Arsenal were beaten in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final Wenger's graciousness petered out shortly before the end of a sentence. "It was a smashing game," he said, "and in the end the luckiest won."

The teams snarl so often because a large number of exceptional footballers are working for two hard-driven managers in a game with a contentious history that normally goes far towards determining the destination of the prizes.

Guardian Service