Arsenal: Arsene Wenger falling into naive trap with Jose Mourinho

Arsene Wenger denied the expectation that Jose Mourinho will come to ‘park the bus’ against Arsenal on Saturday. But given the Portuguese’s history, that seems unlikely. Wenger is in danger of falling into a trap of naivety once again. He must be careful not to overlook his opponent’s wily and canny nature.

Jose Mourinho is a wily old manager.

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He may not be the most likeable fellow in the world, but his tactical nous, his sly and sneaky strategies, his willingness to go to any lengths to win, no matter the style that he commit his team to playing, make him a formidable manager to beat, as Arsene Wenger has painfully discovered in the past.

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So that is why I was so concerned to read Wenger’s pre-match comments ahead of Manchester United’s trip to the Emirates on Saturday. Wenger was asked whether Mourinho, who is famed for ‘parking the bus’ against the big teams, would approach the Arsenal game with the same defensive focus. Wenger said that he did expect it:

"“No, I don’t expect anything special. I just expect us to be ready to recover now. Man Utd is a strong team and I expect us just to cope with the problems they will give us. They will attack as well. They will not only defend. It is a game between Arsenal and Man Utd at home [the Emirates] <…> Man Utd is doing well at the moment, we are doing well at the moment, so it looks to be a promising game.”"

That is very concerning. Wenger is notorious for the lack of instruction that he gives players for individual matches and particular opponents. He has always held the belief that his team should be good enough to master one style and play that style in every game, irrespective of who the opposition is.

And while that is perhaps a wise way of managing a team — it has certainly served Wenger well over the years –, to think that other managers, nevermind one was tactically intricate and tinkering as Mourinho, will have the same approach is extremely naive.

Arsenal, and thereby Wenger, need to be prepared for Mourinho to play his old tricks. It may be to use a 3-4-3 formation. It may be to start Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It may be to have Ander Herrera shadow Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez, as he has done with Eden Hazard in the past. But Mourinho will only play the normal way if he is extremely confident that his team can execute at a higher level than his opponent. At this moment in time, I am not sure that that is the case.

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Now, Wenger is a wonderfully experienced manager. There is very little in the game that he has not seen before. But, historically, tactical naivety has been an issue for him and his teams. And he is now in danger of falling into the same trap once more. Let’s hope that I am very, very wrong.