Arsenal
Mourinho Has Another Dig At Wenger Ahead Of Saturday’s Crucial Clash
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has taken another swipe at Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger ahead of their crucial London derby tomorrow. See what the Blues boss said
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has taken another swipe at Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger ahead of their crucial London derby tomorrow.
The Gunners head to Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime sitting just four points off leaders Chelsea with a game in hand, so tomorrow’s result could be decisive for both clubs title hopes.
The game is made extra special for Wenger as it will be his 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal but when asked if he had any tribute for his fellow manager, Mourinho took the chance to reignite their long-running feud.
While the Portuguese coach admitted his admiration for Arsenal and Wenger, he aimed a cheeky dig at the Gunners boss by saying all managers would love to have been shown the support he’s enjoyed during the many ‘bad moments’ in north London.
‘The tribute is to say that any one of us, we’d love to have the same privilege with our clubs.
‘I admire Wenger and I admire Arsenal, a club that stands by their manager in bad moments – of which there were quite a lot.’
On a day when the rest of the footballing world has been congratulating Wenger for his magnificent achievement, it’s rather disappointing that, as one of the world’s best managers, Mourinho didn’t follow suit.
The Portuguese coach also passed up the opportunity to set the record straight on his ‘specialist in failure’ comment he made about Wenger last month.
Wenger suggested that any manager of the teams at the top of the table who claimed their side wasn’t in the title race was afraid of failure. Mourinho took exception to this by branding the Arsenal boss a ‘specialist in failure’, and when asked if he regretted this comment, he said:
‘Ask him does he regret comment he made… so I can’t answer.’ Mourinho is quoted as saying by the Mail
It would have been nice for the Blues boss to clarify or even retract his comment, as it was unnecessary when you consider the fact that Wenger didn’t even aim his comment directly at Mourinho, he was speaking in general terms, but Jose is a manager who thrives on mind games and unsettling his opposition managers. Sadly for him, I don’t think Wenger is rising to him bait.
