There’s something in Arsene Wenger and Arsenal that gets Jose Mourinho talking. He loves putting it across Wenger and never stops short of taking potshots at his counterpart.
Continuing his mind games over the Frenchman – who many believe would be one of his toughest competitors this season – Mourinho taunted Wenger’s record against him. The self-proclaimed ‘Chosen One’ has not been beaten by Wenger in 13 matches between the pair ahead of the Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley.
The Portugese tactician has never suffered such a poor run against any rival, let alone Wenger. So, he went on to ridicule Wenger by saying that it was only against the current West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis that he struggled for wins.
Mourinho may have a point in this because he lost to Pulis against Crystal Palace once and against West Bromwich Albion once. With Wenger, he somehow managed to remain unbeaten. The law of averages is bound to catch up with him at some point but until that time, he would want to poke Wenger and taunt him.
The Blues manager has rarely passed up an opportunity to express his dislike for Wenger. He always keeps telling that Wenger has the dream job because the Gunners boss has a stable job and has the luxury of selling, rebuilding and waiting for success. In the eyes of Mourinho, while other managers have the ominous task of bringing success in terms of trophies, Wenger has the stability to wait for trophies.
Is he right in doing this? Let’s keep the factual aspect out of it – these jibes are nothing but a part of mind games from the Blues manager. Every time before any match against Arsenal, Mourinho makes it a point to talk about the trophies and compare the long run of ‘no trophies’ under Wenger.
Deep down, Mourinho knows that Wenger is his closest competitor for the crown. If he aims to retain the EPL title, he would have to get past Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City. The two Manchester clubs are at different ends of the spectrum where there is no surety of consistency. Arsenal on the other hand has always been there or there-abouts.
Of course, being there-abouts doesn’t count in the route to success. If Wenger is set to topple Mourinho and Chelsea, he will have to guide his club to the next level. And if he does, Mourinho will have a serious job at hand. That probably explains why he always goes after Wenger. There’s always a first time and none better than this weekend for Wenger to start winning against Mourinho. That would definitely put all the jibes to rest.
Sridhar
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