City Sentinel: Wenger's woe due to lack of true grit
In his revisionist world, the Arsenal boss sees footballing "thugs" such as Ryan Shawcross and Rory Delap scything down his players apparently with the single intent of crippling them, yet forgets about the confetti of red cards dumped on the Gunners during his 12-year reign.
For the record, there are too many of them to recall – nearly as many as Hudsongod still has stashed in his garage – yet I'd bet Wenger didn't see one of them.
Now while it is easy to mock Arsene's amnesia and sometimes suspect eyesight, it is also sad since his fading memory has deprived the Premier League of Arsenal at their best.
The pundits may eulogise about the pretty, pretty football Wenger's youngsters occasionally produce these days, but they also forget that his top teams – those who won the title in 1998, 2002 and 2004 – combined a steely edge with their silky football.
The battles between Arsenal and Man United during Patrick Vieira's time are legendary.
Had the great man been patrolling Arsenal's midfield at the Brit, the final result might have been different ... an issue that gets to the very heart of Wengergate.
The Arsenal boss admits he was provoked into his attack after reading comments by a "Stoke player" supposedly questioning his players' courage.
But the player in question, City keeper Thomas Sorensen, did no such thing.
He said: "They are a fantastic football side, but they are just lacking that bit of physicality.
"When Chelsea came here, they matched us in the challenges, but Arsenal weren't quite there. That's the difference. They lack that bit of spine you need."
Wenger mistook the use of the word spine to mean backbone, courage, bravery ... call it what you will.
In fact, Sorensen was bemoaning the lack of a Vieira at the heart of the Arsenal team, part of a "spine" which once would have also featured Tony Adams, David Seaman and Thierry Henry up front. All great teams are built around a core of exceptional players. But the failure of Wenger to adequately replace Vieira also proves even great teams need to combine the finer arts of the game with its more artisan aspects if they are to succeed.
Sorensen never questioned Arsenal's stomach for a fight ... just whether they had the personnel required to handle themselves should one kick-off. And in that assessment, he was spot on.
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