The post-match press room at Highbury was buzzing.
Reporters discussed every aspect of the match while simultaneously deciding how best to provoke the two managers.
Mourinho, as the winner, arrived first.
Wenger was nowhere to be seen.
Nearly ten minutes passed before the Arsenal manager finally appeared, his expression making his mood perfectly clear.
For the journalists, that was almost an invitation.
An angry Wenger losing his temper in front of the cameras would make an excellent front page.
"Mr Wenger, how would you explain such a heavy defeat?"
The question was deliberately provocative.
Wenger looked up without changing expression.
"There's very little to explain. New Manchester United were excellent today. They performed very well collectively and won a lot of the individual duels. They deserved the victory."
Another reporter immediately followed.
"Do you think your tactical changes came too late in both halves?"
Wenger's eyes narrowed.
"What exactly do you mean?"
The reporter sensed an opening.
"After Mourinho changed his approach in the first half, Arsenal were immediately pushed back and conceded twice in three minutes. Do you accept any responsibility for not reacting sooner?"
"And in the second half, your defensive line kept moving higher even though the players were becoming increasingly desperate. Shouldn't you have intervened?"
Wenger's expression hardened.
"The only thing I'll say is that we were unfortunate not to score."
"If Thierry's shot off the post had gone in, I believe the match would have developed very differently."
Several more aggressive questions followed.
Wenger refused to engage.
"No comment."
"No comment."
Again and again.
Eventually, the journalists realised they were getting nowhere and turned towards Mourinho.
"José, how would you assess Arsenal's performance?"
Mourinho smiled.
He had every reason to enjoy the moment.
But when he answered, there was none of the mockery the reporters were hoping for.
"Not the way some of you clearly want me to."
He glanced around the room.
"Arsenal are a very strong side and a great team."
"This match was much harder than the score suggests."
"Four-nil does not represent the true difference between the teams."
"We were better today, yes, but we also had moments where things went our way."
One reporter tried again.
"But your tactical changes in both halves clearly..."
"I've already answered that."
Mourinho cut him off.
"It was a difficult match."
"Arsenal adjusted as well."
"They caused us problems."
"We won 4-0, but don't use that scoreline to pretend there is some enormous gulf between these teams."
Another journalist changed direction.
"You're now five points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League. Do you believe you can win the title?"
"No promoted club has ever won the Premier League."
Mourinho laughed.
"The title?"
"Of course we want titles."
"You don't work in football at this level without wanting to win."
"But wanting something doesn't mean you lose perspective."
"We've played half a season."
"There are twenty matches left."
"Five points is two bad results."
"A lot can happen."
A different reporter spoke up.
"Before the season, you said survival was the objective."
"You're already on forty-eight points, so realistically relegation is no longer a concern."
"Does that mean the target changes now?"
Mourinho suddenly looked bored.
He stood.
"I'll give you the same answer I've given all season."
"We prepare for the next match."
"Arsenal are difficult."
"Leeds are difficult."
"Every Premier League match is difficult if you don't take it seriously."
Leeds United were next.
They sat bottom of the table, their financial crisis tearing apart what remained of a once-promising squad.
Mourinho shook Wenger's hand and left.
As he walked down the corridor outside the press room, a feeling he had rarely experienced hit him.
Pride.
Three years earlier, who had José Mourinho been in English football?
When New Manchester United first appointed him, sections of the media had openly questioned the decision.
Some had argued that Steve Bruce was the superior young manager.
Now Bruce's Birmingham City were sitting in mid-table.
Mourinho's side were top of the Premier League.
And Arsenal, once a distant benchmark, had just lost 4-0 to his team at Highbury.
It was impossible not to feel something.
The victory fed the ambition already growing inside him.
But he did not allow himself to become carried away.
Inside the pocket of his black Armani coat was a message Ethan had sent immediately after the final whistle.
Only four words.
Good, but not enough.
Mourinho had originally intended to be far less diplomatic towards Arsenal during the press conference.
That message changed his mind.
Ethan was right.
This was not the moment for arrogance.
New Manchester United were top of the Premier League in December.
Nothing more.
Even if they won the league, Europe still waited.
Beyond that were greater ambitions.
More trophies.
More competitions.
More standards to reach.
Mourinho wanted all of it.
And the road was still very long.
...
New Manchester United returned to Manchester carrying the momentum of their victory at Highbury.
Ethan flew back from London that same evening.
The following morning, the entire first-team squad visited Manchester Royal Infirmary.
The club had a long-standing relationship with the hospital and arranged visits during major holidays.
The Christmas visit had originally been scheduled for December 25, but the Arsenal fixture made that impossible.
So it was moved to December 27.
There was another Premier League match the following day.
That did not stop the players from spending the morning at the hospital.
They visited patients.
Signed shirts.
Spoke with families.
And spent time with children who would otherwise be spending Christmas in hospital.
Some of the players joined small games and activities organised for the younger patients.
By the time the squad left, plenty of children who had begun the morning looking exhausted were smiling.
New Manchester United's reputation across Manchester had grown enormously.
The football helped.
But so did this.
The club had spent years trying to embed itself in the city rather than merely exist inside it.
That approach had gradually built a loyal supporter base of its own.
By midday, the squad was back at Newton Heath.
The players ate together.
The afternoon session was devoted almost entirely to recovery.
The Arsenal match had been intense.
There was no point pretending otherwise.
And with Leeds arriving at Old Trafford less than forty-eight hours later, Mourinho had already decided to rotate heavily.
Villa started up front.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribéry played from the wings.
In midfield, De Rossi, Fàbregas, and Yaya Touré all started, with Fàbregas given greater freedom to move between midfield and attack.
The back four consisted of Lahm, Vidić, Chiellini, and Kolo Touré.
Čech remained in goal.
Beckham was rested.
Curtis was rested.
Terry was still suspended.
That left one obvious question.
Who wore the armband?
Mourinho chose De Rossi.
The decision had not been made casually.
He had discussed it with both Ethan and the senior players.
De Rossi had been at the club for years.
He trained relentlessly.
He rarely complained.
And whenever Mourinho used him, his performances had continued to improve.
Without Essien, he would probably have been an automatic starter.
Instead, he had accepted rotation without allowing his standards to slip.
Giving him the captaincy was recognition of that attitude.
It was also a message to the rest of the squad.
You did not need celebrity status to earn responsibility.
Against Leeds, De Rossi responded with one of his best performances of the season.
He protected the defence.
Controlled space in midfield.
And then opened the scoring himself with a powerful effort from distance.
Later, he clipped an excellent pass over the Leeds defence that almost completed a hat-trick for Villa.
Villa scored twice.
Ribéry added the fourth.
New Manchester United 4-0 Leeds United.
Another emphatic victory.
And another defeat dragging Leeds deeper into relegation trouble.
Two days later, Arsenal finally had the chance to respond to their humiliation at Highbury.
They recovered well enough to beat Southampton 1-0 away.
Manchester United won too.
So did Chelsea.
Nobody was disappearing from the title race.
...
January began with the FA Cup third round.
New Manchester United had a league fixture scheduled only days later, and Mourinho's priorities were clear.
The Premier League mattered more.
So did the League Cup at that stage of the season.
The FA Cup tie therefore became another opportunity for the younger players.
Ishmael Miller started.
Messi started.
Michael Johnson started.
John Obi Mikel started.
Their opponents were Swindon Town of the Second Division.
Swindon had home advantage and viewed the youthful New Manchester United side as vulnerable.
This was exactly the kind of cup tie where an upset could happen.
Mourinho's youngsters had other ideas.
They played with remarkable composure.
Technically, they were superior in most areas of the pitch.
Whenever Swindon struggled to contain them, fouls followed.
One of those fouls gave Michael Johnson his moment.
36th minute.
Free kick.
Around thirty-five metres from goal.
Johnson stood over it.
There was no hesitation.
He stepped forward and wrapped his foot around the ball.
The shot climbed over the wall.
Curved sharply.
Then dropped into the top corner.
The goalkeeper never reached it.
0-1.
Michael Johnson's first competitive goal for the senior team.
And it was spectacular.
Swindon responded aggressively after falling behind.
For a spell, New Manchester United were pushed back.
But Lahm, Vidić, Chiellini, and Maicon held firm.
In front of them, Mikel produced another mature performance.
His anticipation stood out.
So did his ability to use his strength without constantly diving into challenges.
Johnson complemented him well.
One was more positionally disciplined.
The other had the freedom to carry the ball and support attacks.
The balance worked.
After half-time, New Manchester United scored again.
Messi moved inside from the flank.
Ishmael came short.
The two combined quickly through the centre.
Ishmael returned the ball.
Messi finished.
0-2.
Swindon pushed desperately for a way back into the match.
None came.
New Manchester United advanced.
For Mourinho, the result mattered.
The performances mattered more.
Two wins in quick succession with heavily rotated sides had strengthened his belief that the squad could survive the African Cup of Nations.
Essien and Yaya Touré would be away.
Drogba would be away.
Kolo Touré would be away.
But De Rossi was ready.
Mikel was improving quickly.
Michael Johnson had shown he could contribute.
The midfield depth looked less worrying than it had a month earlier.
...
The next Premier League fixture took New Manchester United to Blackburn.
Villa scored.
Palacio scored.
Beckham created both.
At half-time, Mourinho's side led 2-0.
The score suggested control.
The match itself was less comfortable.
Blackburn created several dangerous counter-attacks after the break.
Their finishing repeatedly let them down.
Had they been sharper, Čech might have been beaten much earlier.
Then came the controversy.
83rd minute.
Andy Cole entered the penalty area.
Curtis moved across.
Cole went down.
The referee pointed immediately to the spot.
Then he booked Curtis.
Mourinho exploded.
He turned towards the assistant referee and repeatedly insisted there had been no foul.
He gestured towards the pitch.
Then towards the officials.
It was not a dive in the most obvious sense.
Cole had appeared to anticipate contact and go to ground while trying to avoid the challenge.
But Curtis had not actually fouled him.
Mourinho was furious.
The assistant referee tried to calm him.
That only made things worse.
The referee walked across.
Reached for his pocket.
Red card.
Mourinho stared at him.
For a moment, even the assistant referee looked surprised.
Then Mourinho unleashed a furious response, turned, and disappeared down the tunnel.
Andy Cole stepped up to take the penalty.
Čech saved it.
Blackburn still had nothing.
The match finished 0-2.
Mourinho remained furious afterwards.
"The penalty was wrong," he said.
"The fact they didn't score it doesn't suddenly make the decision correct."
"There were several decisions today that went against us."
"I don't believe we were treated fairly."
Then he went further.
"There are people who don't want us to win the league."
"They want us to drop points."
"They want us to lose."
"Today, they didn't get what they wanted."
"Because we won."
That was the line that changed everything.
The media seized on it immediately.
By the following morning, Mourinho's accusations were everywhere.
The Football Association responded quickly.
After reviewing the incident, officials acknowledged that the penalty decision had been incorrect.
They also accepted that the referee had made several mistakes during the match.
But the FA categorically rejected any suggestion of a conspiracy against New Manchester United.
Mourinho had already been facing punishment for his dismissal.
His comments made the situation worse.
The initial one-match touchline ban was extended by another two matches.
Three in total.
He was also fined £45,000.
New Manchester United's official response was restrained.
The club refused to discuss the refereeing controversy in detail.
But it made one point very clear.
José Mourinho was their manager.
He had the complete support of the club.
New Manchester United would pay the fine.
Mourinho's touchline suspension could hardly have arrived at a worse time.
The African Cup of Nations was approaching.
The fixture list was becoming increasingly congested.
Several important players were about to leave.
And now, for three matches, Mourinho would not be where he most wanted to be.
On the touchline.
New Manchester United's season was becoming more difficult by the week.
(To be continued.)