Arsene Wenger is a 'SPECIALIST IN FAILURE- Jose Mourinho

[SPUDMASHER]

The Blues boss was responding to the Arsenal manager's claim the Premier League title is "Chelsea's to lose".

Chelsea hold a one-point advantage over the Gunners, with Manchester City a further two points back.

Under Wenger, Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005 and Mourinho said: "Eight years without a piece of silverware, that's failure."

The Portuguese manager, who won the Premier League twice in his first spell as Chelsea manager between 2004 and 2007, has won league titles in four different countries as well as the Champions League with Porto and Inter.

The last trophy Wenger won was the FA Cup in 2005, and Mourinho says his current employers would not tolerate so long without silverware.

"He is a specialist in failure," said Mourinho. "I'm not. So if he is right and I am afraid of failure it is because I didn't fail many times.

"The reality is he's a specialist because eight years without a piece of silverware, that's failure. If I do that in Chelsea, eight years, I leave and don't come back."

Hard to argue with him on this one. Think he's a dick for expressing it publicly, but he is a correct dick none the less.

[Ryanswannell]

Yes, Mourinho's a twat, but he is spot on the money and I have lost all sympathy for Arsene.

[markyp]

at long last someone has come out and said it,i hope the sheep are listening,JUST LEAVE PLEASE WENKER

[Gunner Rob]

yes Mourinho is a prick but of course he is right and I am actually glad that he has come out and said it - the media do at least listen to him

how Wenger reacts will be interesting - I just dont see how he can argue against it

[spendsum4uckingmoney]

I wouldn't say he's a specialist in failure. Our aims have been to finish 4th for the past 9 years. I would describe him as a specialist in mediocrity.

[flash gunner]

Mourinho wil now become the target of the sheeps hatred (after cuddling him for photos before our game with the chavs earlier this season)

Unfortunately Mourinho might be a *word censored* but he's not wrong

[Skooner]

Wengers response will be to talk about things like financial doping etc. Thus not addressing the actual accusation.

Wenger isn't a failure in his or the clubs eyes, they have to tell the fans we can compete but everything they do suggests they don't think we can so why try.

[I Hate Hleb]

As soon as I heard Wenger's comments on the radio I knew almost word for word how Mourinho would reply. It was an open goal of such proportions that it would have been rude of him NOT to have responded like that!! Then again, Wenger still hasn't learnt the lessons of how the media will set-up a question under the guise of being interested in Wenger's 'intelligent' and 'considered' views only in order to elicit a reply that they can then be used to ridicule him. And whether it is down to naivety or ego, he falls for it time after time after time.

[SPUDMASHER]

As soon as I heard Wenger's comments on the radio I knew almost word for word how Mourinho would reply. It was an open goal of such proportions that it would have been rude of him NOT to have responded like that!! Then again, Wenger still hasn't learnt the lessons of how the media will set-up a question under the guise of being interested in Wenger's 'intelligent' and 'considered' views only in order to elicit a reply that they can then be used to ridicule him. And whether it is down to naivety or ego, he falls for it time after time after time.

Also known as Cyndi Lauper syndrome



sorry

[I Hate Hleb]

[northbank123]

Mourinho is a cock - and this is typically disrespectful. He loves being the centre of attention and Chelsea's rise coupled with Pellegrini and Wenger getting dragged into his web of nonsense mean once again the media are hanging on his every word. And he loves it.

Of course it is also true and what plenty of fans are saying. I for one am glad he said it because hopefully it will foster some real discussion about it. It will be very interesting to see Wenger's response. If he repeats his belief that 4th place is a trophy and the last 8 years have been a 'success' for a club of our size he'll get pilloried. If he whines about money it won't cut it and Mourinho will come back with another riposte mocking him for being obsessed with money and some sort of wisecrack about how he should work at a bank or something. Think he'll just have to keep his mouth shut and brush it off/take it on the chin, which he'll hate doing. But at the end of the day the 9-year drought is indefensible and I'm glad it has been publicly questioned again.

[clockender1]

Wenger will come back with " 100 million in the bank is not failure"

I'm sure that's how he sees it.

I like mourinho btw.

[Gunner Rob]

his best response will be to make sure we beat Chelsea next month at the Bridge and make sure that Mourinho has a season of failure himself

[Dan_85]

his best response will be to make sure we beat Chelsea next month at the Bridge

Yeah, I see that happening. It'll be like Anfield all over again.

[Trevheff]

I'm certainly no Wenger sympathiser, quite the opposite with every passing game as it happens. And following our new found financial footing, failure to invest heavily in the squad now carries no defence.

But to try and compare Arsenal v Chelsea in the period 2005-2012 and not consider the different financial positions of the clubs is ignorant and stupid if trying to make a serious argument. Mourinho was not only thrown a bottomless transfer kitty when he arrived in 2004 but Chelsea had the market to themselves. The Arabs, PSG, Monaco etc were not on the scene. By contrast, not only did Arsenal not have that bottomless pit they went in the opposite direction and had to pay for the stadium move. Whatever lines we were spun by the Board at the time about the immediate benefits of leaving Highbury, it is fact. Chelsea could and did spend like mad and buy the best players in the world, we were on a shoe string by comparison and had to sell the best players in the world.

Had Mourinho been at Arsenal 2005 - 2012 would he had have won the same number of trophies as he has at Chelsea? No. Would he have won more than Wenger? Possibly. Probably. But the point is Arsenal v Chelsea in that 7/8 year period was not an even playing field so it's a stupid comparison.

But all that said, Wenger can no longer spin the money line. He no longer has that excuse.

And I also agree that this silly verbal jousting is all manufactured by the press and the egos of the managers is too big not to walk into the trap.