London rivals bury hatchet ahead of FA Cup semi

There was a time, not so long ago, when collisions between Chelsea and Arsenal were saturated by spite.

After his appointment as manager at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho appeared to go out of his way to target his Arsenal counterpart, Arsene Wenger, the man he infamously labelled a “voyeur”.

Wenger never bothered to hide his contempt for a manager he viewed as disrespectful and a club whose cash-rich methods he despised. The result was a series of increasingly bitter clashes between the rivals.

But now the poison has been drawn.

Wenger is a more circumspect manager, his fierier habits tempered by age, while Mourinho’s departure has made the Chelsea dug-out, now inhabited by interim manager Guus Hiddink, a less volatile place, to such an extent that the build-up to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final is likely to be the most polite on record.

Where once the air between west and north London was thick with waspish insults, now it hangs heavy with compliments.

“The first thing I thought when Guus Hiddink came to Chelsea was: ‘Oh, no,'” said Robin van Persie, the Arsenal striker, of his fellow Dutchman. “Chelsea are still in the FA Cup and Champions League and he will win something.

“He is unbelievable. When I saw him two years ago in Holland, because we use the same physio sometimes, I asked to see his hands. He said: ‘Yes, why?’ I said that everything he put his hand on turns to gold. He was laughing. He is fantastic.”

It would have been unthinkable for van Persie to have lauded Mourinho in the same way, and his unabashed admiration for Hiddink speaks volumes both for the esteem with which he is held in footballing circles.

The Gunners have no need to wage psychological war ahead of the weekend meeting at England’s national stadium.

They are basking in the glory of an 18-game unbeaten run in the Premier League and progress to a Champions League semi-final showdown with Manchester United, courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Villarreal that bordered on the routine.

Chelsea, for all their fine form under Hiddink, hold no fears for Wenger’s young squad.

“It is all about winning now,” Cesc Fabregas, the Arsenal captain, said.

“We may not have the experience of Chelsea but we have the confidence and the excitement to play big games in the FA Cup and the Champions League. We are not scared of anybody.”

Arsenal’s confidence has been pepped by the suspicion that Chelsea are no longer the immovable object they once were.

There has been more creative freedom to their attacking play under Hiddink in recent weeks, but that commitment to enterprise has come at a cost, with seven goals leaked in their last two matches.

Petr Cech, the previously unflappable Czech goalkeeper, has looked nervous, unsettled by high balls and no longer commanding his penalty area with any semblance of authority.

Ricardo Carvalho is still feeling his way back to full fitness and, while John Terry returns from the suspension that ruled him out of the dramatic 4-4 Champions League draw with Liverpool, the Blues skipper cannot hold together his back-line single-handedly.

Chelsea’s biggest hope is Hiddink himself. The stand-in manager has become a talismanic presence for the club since his appointment in February, breathing new life into Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack, and somehow convincing a side which had been sliding into mediocrity under Luiz Felipe Scolari that they are capable of mounting a challenge for honours.

It has been achieved through a combination of exhausting graft and attention to detail, and Hiddink, who will resume his full-time role as Russia coach in May, is not done yet.

“There is always pressure where we emphasise on winning, winning, winning,” he said.

“Not just winning but also playing in a way which is meant to be attractive – those two roads are important. We are keeping up with our own demands and expectations.”