Fergie and Wenger: The best of enemies

"He does what he wants in England anyway. He can go abroad one day and see how it is there.

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"What I don't understand is that he does what he wants and you are all at his feet." Arsene Wenger, January 14, 2005

Time heals, doesn't it? Less than three years after Arsene Wenger's relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson reached its lowest point, Arsenal and Manchester United convene in London this afternoon with English football's most enduring and intriguing personal rivalry back at the top of the Premiership agenda.

Today's meeting at the Emirates Stadium may be billed as the purists' football match — the day when the Premiership shows the world that a diet of crash-bang-wallop football is not all that we have to offer.

At its core, however, remains something primitive, a battle of wills between men who have done so much to shape English domestic football over the last decade.

As such, at Arsenal's training ground at London Colney yesterday lunchtime, Wenger was doing what he once swore he would never do again: taking questions about Ferguson.

"He has most of the qualities you need to be a great manager," said Wenger. "He is passionate, makes the right decisions, has the personality and has consistency in his motivation.

"You must sacrifice your life to be such a long time in a job like his.

"This job never leaves your head wherever you are. You need to be consistently determined in your attitude and we are the same as far as the sacrifice is concerned."

After two years in the Premiership wilderness, the resurgence of an enterprising Arsenal team — coupled with Chelsea's moderate start to the season — has brought Wenger and Ferguson nose to nose once more.

With the departed Jose Mourinho hogging so many headlines over the last three years, the rivalry between Wenger and Ferguson, no matter how ingrained, has been subconsciously relegated to sub-plot.

And let's face it, English football — an industry that is nothing without its personalities — has missed it.

Ferguson's rivalry with Mourinho was underpinned by friendship and was, therefore, all about witty asides, pleasantries and boring questions about bottles of red wine.

Only occasionally did it threaten to boil over. With Wenger, it has always been different.

Ferguson's years in combat with the Frenchman have been characterised by mutual suspicion, mistrust and genuine contempt at times.

Ferguson once texted Mourinho to congratulate him on a notable European result.

It is hard to imagine him texting Wenger — presuming he has his number — even if the Frenchman was to be made Prime Minister.

"We don't contact each other, but that's not to say there's no relationship," said Ferguson yesterday.

"It's odd occasions as managers when you meet up, normally when you play each other. That's when you speak to each other.

"But a lot of these things are over-hyped." Ferguson is right, but only to a point.

In January, 2005, there appeared to be a thaw on the way as Ferguson admitted that he and Wenger had shared bottles of wine at UEFA coaching seminars.

But then United ended the 49-game unbeaten run of Arsenal's so-called "Invincibles" at Old Trafford, Wenger's players threw pizza at Ferguson outside the dressing rooms and anarchy again reigned.

Ferguson seemed reluctant to discuss his relationship with his rival yesterday, apart from admitting that it had been a "see-saw".

For his part, Wenger admitted that his own team's relatively fallow recent seasons had enabled a little objectivity to return.

"First of all, it is down to the fact that we didn't compete directly with them, so games were not really the deciders," conceded Wenger.

"That calms it down. Enemies is a big word. I don't know Ferguson well enough to say that I am friends with him.

"I respect him for what he has done, and for what he is doing in the job. That's it. Sometimes, it was hotter. Sometimes the climate was a bit warmer!

"What is important is that this is a good football game and that we win. All the rest is less important."

What lies at the heart of 10 years of problems between these men is hard to pinpoint, apart from the unavoidable friction involving sporting rivals.

It should be noted that Wenger has few genuine friends in English football and is actively disliked by managers such as Mark Hughes at Blackburn and Newcastle's Sam Allardyce.

For all his eloquence and erudite charm, the Frenchman is known throughout the game as a particularly sour loser.

Ferguson, meanwhile, resents Wenger for the way he feels he courts the media — he doesn't, he is merely polite to them — and for the manner in which he feels his teams' technical skills have always belied a barelyhidden nastiness.

His reservations are shared by others at Old Trafford.

Only this week, one United executive told Sportsmail: "Why is everyone banging on about beautiful Arsenal again this season? They haven't won anything yet."

Ferguson made the same point in his own press conference yesterday and once more the stage is set.

So, will things boil over again in Highbury & Islington this afternoon?

As Wenger said impishly: "I cannot give you any guarantees."