Manchester Utd v Arsenal Old Trafford, Sunday, 4.05: At a question-and-answer session at a charity dinner in Cheshire this week Alex Ferguson was asked: "You have a gun with one bullet. Who would you shoot? Arsene Wenger or Victoria Beckham?"
Presumably with tongue lodged firmly in cheek, Ferguson replied: "Could I have two bullets, please?" And so the sniping continues. Manchester United versus Arsenal long ago ceased to be just about the best two teams in the country. It is about Ferguson versus Wenger, the grizzled Glaswegian versus the scholarly Frenchman.
It is an image Fleet Street loves to portray. Yet Ferguson reintroduced himself to an old friend - diplomacy - when it came to discussing tomorrow's renewal of hostilities, a match he described as "the biggest in a decade at Old Trafford". There were no tired insults, no thinly-veiled references to disciplinary statistics, just an acceptance Arsenal are currently the best team in the country and admiration, albeit slightly grudging, for Wenger's achievements.
"Arsene is protective of his club and I'm protective of my club but it's never an issue when we meet at coaching conventions," he said. "It's a nice, relaxed atmosphere then. We have a glass of wine and lunch and we have a lot of things in common, as football people generally do. It's when you get back in your working habitat the old habits start again. That's just natural given the length of time we have been at our clubs. But deep down I admire Arsene.
These are not so-called "mind games". In a grudge match United might have the spikiness to outdo Arsenal, whereas in a contest of skill Wenger's men are undoubtedly superior. Therefore Ferguson would have more to gain by inflaming any mutual antipathy. It is also notable he has finally started to refer to Arsenal's manager as "Arsene". For several years he has just used "Wenger". In off-the-record briefings, sometimes other words have been applied. For now Ferguson seems intent on playing down the feud.
"Your responsibility before these games is not just about the way your team performs but what you say about each other," he said. "You don't want to create a tension and an atmosphere that the players can do without." That is a bit rich, perhaps, given his diatribe last weekend about Arsenal "getting away with murder", but Ferguson was right when he said: "Sunday is not about the managers; it's about 22 players who are all very talented."
To that effect he will be dismayed Roy Keane has not trained all week because of a virus. He has also had to summon Rio Ferdinand in light of the paparazzi photographs that showed him in the West End of London at 4 a.m. on Tuesday when he was on compassionate leave because of his grandmother's death. Ferdinand has not been fined but his eyebrows have been singed by Ferguson's invective.
This season United have scored only nine times in as many league games. "They have started off with a lot of problems," Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho said yesterday. "But when I look at their firepower, it is amazing - much more than we have and more than Arsenal have . . . it's a crucial game. If United lose, then it is goodbye Arsenal."
An Arsenal victory would not only see them extend their unbeaten Premiership run to 50 games but go 14 points clear of United.
"We've thrown away a 12-point lead against Arsenal in 1998 and almost did the same to Blackburn in 1994," he said. "Against that we recovered a 12-point deficit on Newcastle in 1996. But, yes, it would need the biggest ever recovery .. . I expect us to win because in these situations we don't let ourselves down. Arsenal will be happy with a draw and they may even come looking for one."
Victory for United, who learned last night Ruud van Nistelrooy would not face disciplinary action for a stray elbow in Prague in mid week, would make them the first club to reach 1,000 Premiership points.
Otherwise Wayne Rooney's 19th birthday will be remembered as the day United's title chances were effectively extinguished.
