Zimpapers Logo

Arsene Wenger

LONDON. – Arsene Wenger has blasted back at Jose Mourinho’s taunts by accusing the Chelsea boss of lacking respect. Mourinho, set to win the Premier League this weekend, mocked Arsenal’s 11-year wait for the title after last Sunday’s 0-0 draw.

In response to the “boring, boring Chelsea” jibes, Mourinho claimed Arsenal fans should be bored of not winning the league.

Wenger has suggested that Mourinho has shown him a lack of respect by calling Arsenal “boring” for their failure to win the Premier League title since 2004.

Arsenal supporters chanted “boring boring Chelsea” during the goalless draw at the Emirates last Sunday, with Mourinho forcefully responding by pointing out that his team had scored more goals than Arsenal and that it is far more boring to have not won the league for more than a decade.

Arsenal clearly felt that Mourinho had no need to attack the club’s wider record in response to a chant by supporters and, asked about the Mourinho comment, Wenger said: “The biggest thing for a manager is to respect other managers. Some people have to improve on that.”

Asked if Mourinho needed to conduct himself with more dignity, Wenger added: “Everybody lives with his own internal problems and I live with mine. You can have incidents with other managers sometimes. It gets a bit heated when you fight directly with them, but in the end I believe time heals and the important thing is to respect each other as much as you can.”

It’s the latest in a long list of disagreements between the two managers since Mourinho’s arrival in English football back in 2004 coincided with Arsenal no longer regularly challenging to win the title. Wenger has never beaten Mourinho in 13 matches between their two teams, but believes that his team have progressed this season. They are currently 10 points behind Chelsea although their form since December has been outstanding.

Wenger believes that injuries early in the season were the difference and does not think that the wide gap in points necessarily reflects the current difference between the two teams. “We have to look at it in a realistic way,” said Wenger. “I feel that we have made progress so I look at it in a positive way.

“We faced a big challenge because Chelsea didn’t drop their level in the title race, and they were more consistent from the start until the end, and that’s why we didn’t catch them up. Overall we feel we have made progress.” Asked if injuries were the difference, he said: “I think so but it’s easy to say. I’ve said many times that we had big injuries at the start of the season, after the World Cup, and that we only got our squad together more recently. It took us some time to find a good balance in the team and we dropped some points because of that.

“When you fight for the championship, you win some games because you smell you can do it, not because you’re fourth or fifth. It doesn’t always represent the value of the team. The gap is a gap and they have been more consistent than us from the start of the game. They had a very strong start and that kept them going until the end.”

Wenger also claimed that he was “not necessarily” looking to add a goalkeeper this summer although his pause before answering the question did suggest that the situation is under constant review.

“I believe in the goalkeepers I have,” said Wenger. “I believe that [Wojciech] Szczesny is a very good goalkeeper and [David] Ospina has come in and done a fantastic job. You look at the numbers in the Premier League and you look at who is top of all the goalkeepers and you will see it’s Ospina.”

Arsenal will still be without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Hull City on Monday while Mathieu Debuchy is also unavailable due to a hamstring injury.

Wenger also stressed his support for Ainsley Maitland-Niles after the 17-year-old’s mum was banned from areas of the training ground after she appeared to hit Wenger’s chief negotiator, Dick Law, and allegedly threatened to drag her son off the pitch during an under-21s game.

“It is basically a private matter that I don’t know really well,” said Wenger. “But I know Ainsley very well and he has my complete support because he is a good boy and I am sure his mother wants a great future for him and to help him. There are some incidents that I don’t know well and I don’t know why but the boy has a perfect behaviour inside our club.”

Wenger also admitted that he would not call the FA Cup, the ‘Emirates FA Cup’ even though it is Arsenal’s shirt and stadium sponsor who are expected to win the rights to rebrand the competition.

“Personally for me it will remain the FA Cup, but what makes the quality of the FA Cup is the games you get and the quality of the competition,” said Wenger.

“On that front I think it is a top quality. Will the name change, certainly because of the sponsorship that looks to be the fate of the world that we live in.”

Meanwhile, Steve Bruce admits he likes it when Wenger gets stick from fans.

The Hull boss says if the Arsenal manager is under pressure then most other managers must be. Wenger has been in charge at Arsenal since 1996 but a run of one trophy in 10 seasons has seen some fans call for the Frenchman to be sacked. Hull have pulled away from the relegation zone with back to back wins over Crystal Palace and Liverpool.

They start the weekend four points clear of the bottom three with four matches left and Bruce has warned his players the job is not yet complete. -AFP.