Wenger on his pre-match ritual: “I always go to check the pitch on the morning of the game. It is to see how short they cut the grass, how quick the pitch will be, how good the surface is. You want to know that if you are a football man. That picture seems to show the loneliness of my job. Because sometimes the guy you see there, that guy still has some doubts in his mind to know what kind of team he will play. Most of the time he had not a very good night, and is still wondering what he wants to do for the game.”

Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC