Arsène Wenger can get misty-eyed about the London Colney training ground even when he is actually on the premises. It is, to the last detail, his creation, and the Arsenal base is also a place of dreams and ambitions. "Here is the real football club," said the manager. Wenger was not simply bobbing and weaving to avoid questions about a potential takeover bid by the Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
It has, to a great extent, been the influence of Wenger that has made Arsenal such a prize. The value of the club would crash if occasions such as the Champions League game with the Uefa Cup holders Sevilla tonight ceased to be a regular occurrence. Wenger's contentment is therefore an asset to be protected by whatever regime is in charge.
"What is important for you is that when you wake up in the morning you are happy to go to your job," Wenger said. "That's what happens for me. I drive out here and work every day with the same people, who are happy to do what they do. One of the good things about Arsenal is the tradition that the manager can do the job as he wants to do it."
No one would wish to intrude on Wenger's labours when they entail the honing of a player such as the 20-year-old midfielder Cesc Fábregas. The manager feels that the Spanish youngster has similarities with a great France midfielder who is now president of Uefa, the European governing body.
"His vision is comparable to [Michel] Platini's," said Wenger of Fábregas, "but he is at the start of a career. He will still develop. Platini had a striker's mentality. He could stay quiet for a game and think he would score a goal. Cesc is a guy who likes to distribute and be at the heart of things."
That has not prevented Fábregas from scoring five goals this season and clubs such as Real Madrid are liable to renew their efforts to lure him back to Spain. Wenger brushes that aside. "What a top-level player wants," said the Frenchman, "is to win games, to win trophies and to be in a position where he can improve and share something special with his friends."
This aspiration has the ring of innocence to it and there is an unsullied quality to several members of the Arsenal line-up. Asked if the sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona had been a gamble, Wenger replied: "Yes, and it's not won." With a paltry five Premier League fixtures completed, there is too little evidence to confirm Arsenal's status.
Sevilla will scrutinise them, examining the defence in particular. Jens Lehmann, the German international goalkeeper, is still injured and Wenger expects that his centre-half William Gallas will not make his comeback from a groin strain until the match at West Ham United in 10 days' time. The Arsenal manager imagines that both clubs will be true to their attacking instincts tonight, though he cannot wholly rule out the visitors having their minds on a valuable draw.
While Wenger classes Sevilla as one of those sides for whose matches the television should automatically be switched on, they resemble Arsenal in their conclusion that space is best found by playing swiftly on the break. That, in turn, must have him pondering his defensive midfielder and wondering if he can afford to rest Gilberto Silva and use Mathieu Flamini in the role.
In his view, Arsenal and Sevilla are among the "four or five teams" with a realistic prospect of winning the tournament. The Andalusian club last played in the European Cup 50 years ago and their coach, Juande Ramos, has inspired an unimaginable revival.
Wenger would not, of course, be drawn into discussion of whether this person might be the next Tottenham Hotspur manager with whom he has to deal. The fast and smart Sevilla line-up created by Ramos is the immediate concern for the Frenchman tonight.
