LONDON — So, let’s begin with the important stuff: Jose Mourinho, the brilliant (and occasionally belligerent) manager of Chelsea, did, in fact, shake hands on Saturday with Arsense Wenger, the professorial (and occasionally petty) manager of Arsenal. Their palms touched!
This détente, such as it was, between two high-profile figures who have been jabbing at each other for years, was a subject of much discussion and dissection in the days leading up to the first Premier League meeting between the teams this season. Mourinho, who often alternates between killing with kindness and killing with razor-sharp knives, went the satirically gentle route this time by emerging from the tunnel well before usual and literally waiting, for several minutes, right by the entrance to the field for Wenger to emerge.