There is one common thing in the world. And it is common throughout history and walk of life. That is, when the ideologies clash, the conflicts arise. And this has been the case when Jose Mourinho had his team in front of Arsene Wenger’s team.
From day one, the tempers flared when both the managers met each other in the dugout. There was intense rivalry between the two and sometimes, even took the physical shove and seemed to get out of bounds.
The intense start
From the day Jose Mourinho started his tenure at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho went to the bad books of Arsene Wenger with his disrespectful comments on the manager. On the other hand, Arsene Wenger was not ready to subside anytime but waited for the right time.
When Chelsea fielded an all international XI without any English players, Arsene Wenger taunted the tactics of Mourinho. He took a cheeky dig at Chelsea’s youth squad and questioned about the homegrown players of Chelsea. In contrast, Arsenal had one of the best youth setups in England.
Current day Lillywhites’ manager, Jose Mourinho was the one who demanded the media attention. He is an expert in manipulating and tricking his opponents by making fun of himself.
The War of Words
There was only one thing common when the two clubs clashed with each other as both, Mourinho and Wenger ensured there was enough spice through the verbal kicks at each other. Though Mourinho’s first tenure was pretty silent over the war of words, it became difficult during his second term at Stamford Bridge.
The first real blow was given when Mourinho used his delaying tactics with Real Madrid against Ajax in Champions League. Arsene Wenger called it a really horrible technique from the manager of such a big club like Real Madrid. Taking a dig at Wenger, former Inter-manager claimed that Wenger should focus more on the team’s performance rather than commenting on others.
The biggest heist
After the spell at Real Madrid, “Special One” Mourinho returned back to England for his second stint at Chelsea. Then things started getting worse during his second term in Premier League. Not only there was war of words, but there was a physical exchange too.
In October 2014, while Arsenal took on Chelsea in the Premier League clash, Arsene Wenger was still searching for his first win against Jose Mourinho and was seeming to win the game. However, as the game started, the tempers between the managers flared badly.
Thibaut Courtois clashed with Alexis Sanchez and fell cold. Subsequently, he went off and was substituted with Petr Cech. As the game carried, Chelsea central defender, Garry Cahill made a nasty tackle on Alexis Sanchez. This made Jose Mourinho vent out the anger on his counterpart, Arsene Wenger. Before referees arrived to clear the tension, the Frenchmen pushed the Portuguese gaffer away in the chest.
Both were warned for the actions. Though they apologised later, it will go down as one of the worst feuds between the managers on the pitch.
“The end of the rivalry”
Though Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were involved in the verbal spats and physical battles, both had respect for each other. Jose Mourinho even went on to accept his admiration for the Arsenal faithful and called him a “Sweet Enemy”. He also described Wenger as a very intelligent gaffer and one of the best to grace the game of football.
He also accepted that there were mistakes from both the sides that made the rivalry nastier. But he accepted that it is a part and parcel of football. Further, former Porto manager mellowed down his action with regard to “Au Revoir”.
Arsene Wenger managed Arsenal for one last time in 2017. At that time, when he visited Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho was at the helm. Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson presented a token as a gesture for Wenger’s grace in the Premier League.
This leaves us with one question. Will there be a rivalry like this ever in the Premier League? There are few rivalries across the globe like this which might end soon.
Who would make the better rivals across Europe on and off the pitch? We will wait for your comments below.
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