There was conversation a few years ago Arsène Wenger summarised theory he had about how the way managers talk about football can get into a player’s level of consciousness. This was not everyday football manager‑speak. “The way you speak out is seeds in the brains of your players,” he said. “It is subconscious, it is interesting. I am very interested in the subconscious force of the memory of a team.”
In a nutshell the concept is about how strongly certain messages, or raking up of past experiences, can come out in the way a team plays.
Heading north, to Old Trafford for the final time as Arsenal manager on Sunday, Wenger will have to choose his words carefully. His storylines at this particular theatre are among the most vivid of his 22 years in English football. Wenger has scaled football emotions at the most extreme levels of the spectrum at Old Trafford.
His three Premier League title wins all owed something extra to the shuddering results and pivotal performances at Manchester United. In 2002 Arsenal even stretched so high as to clinch the title with a victory on their rivals’ patch, much to United’s annoyance (needless to say they were not presented with the trophy there and then). But Wenger has also suffered some of his sharpest humiliations on the sideline of that same patch of grass. It still beggars belief that Arsenal could lose a Premier League game by a margin as harrowing as 8-2 .
The glass-half-empty section in Arsenal’s fanbase taking position in the away corner of Old Trafford is probably a little more concerned about that memory flickering in the current team’s subconscious than the good times. The timing of this fixture is about as welcome as Shkodran Mustafi falling into a heap at the worst possible moment in front of Antoine Griezmann .
Wenger cannot be grateful for a game at Old Trafford squidged between the two emotionally loaded legs of the Europa League semi-finals. One last shot at farewell silverware has to dominate his approach, and a quick scan through Arsenal’s squad suggests this could be a long afternoon in Manchester if Wenger does the right thing and rests as many of his first-choice players as possible for Thursday’s second leg in Madrid.
One can almost imagine him scanning his squad list and taking it from there. So, who have we got? Start by ticking off Petr Cech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at both ends. Defence: Calum Chambers, Rob Holding and Sead Kolasinac. Midfield: Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Iwobi … erm.
There are three more spots available and Wenger has to decide whether to play any of his Europa League picks or throw down the gauntlet to some of the youngsters who have been on the fringe of the first team this season. Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah have had some experience. Maybe there is a debut going for Konstantinos Mavropanos, the Greek defender signed in January .
José Mourinho and his most experienced heavyweights may be licking their lips like a cartoon Big Bad
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