No apology from Wenger

ARSENE WENGER last night maintained he did not feel he had anything to apologise to Jose Mourinho about — and reserved the right to consider legal action over claims from the Chelsea boss he was a “voyeur.”

Mourinho has put forward the offer of a mutual apology to call an end to their unseemly war of words but only if the Arsenal manager does the same for his repeated barbed comments about the Barclays Premiership champions, which Chelsea claim fills up a "120-page" dossier.

The Portuguese coach has also maintained his comments were "not a personal thing."

The Football Association and the League Managers' Association have urged the pair to call a truce, while there have been encouraging conversations at boardroom level.

Wenger, though, insisted he would wait until next week's international break to decide whether to follow through his threat of legal proceedings against Mourinho.

And today the Frenchman defended his right to freedom of expression, while also seeking an end to public debate over the row.

"I think we have to close the subject, but I don't see what I have to apologise for first," Wenger said.

"Second, I will reflect on the situation during the international break and see what kind of action I will take. "That has not changed.

"Third, I want to focus on the game against Sunderland."

The Arsenal manager maintained he had been hurt by the comments made from Mourinho.

"Yes, of course I was. It was a personal attack," he said.

Wenger continued: "My intention has never been to hurt Chelsea. I am not especially interested in talking about Chelsea.

"I give my opinion honestly. Sometimes people like it, sometimes they don't.

"It's not meant to hurt anyone and I have certainly never personally attacked anyone."

Wenger, however, accepts criticism over subjects such as team selection and tactics will always be part and parcel of life as a football manager.

"We do not get many compliments and we have to live with that," he said.

"We are in a top job and everyone has a different opinion. "You can have a lot of different opinion and you can never check if it is right.

"When you are at school and you are doing mathematics, you can have 10 different answers and at the end the teacher will tell you which one is right.

"In football you can never do that. You cannot prove anyone is wrong."

Wenger maintains he is "reluctant" to consider taking the matter further.

"I will reflect on that situation, but of course I did not think about FA action, I thought about legal action," he said.

"I am reluctant to take action. I am not in the game for that, but at some stage you have to be firm.

"I have had a few other personal attacks, you know."

The Arsenal manager declared: "I am always ready to apologise for something I have done wrong. I do not link that to an apology from someone else."

When asked whether he "liked" Mourinho and would welcome a face-to-face meeting to clear the air, the Arsenal manager maintained: "I don't even know the person."

He added: "I am much more concerned about how we play tomorrow rather than setting up a meeting with him."

Chelsea play Manchester United tomorrow, and the Blues manager has stated he would prefer if the Red Devils finish runners-up this season.

Such statements on the state of the game, rather than linked to an individual, are, according to Wenger, fair comment.

"There is nothing wrong with that. It's a personal opinion," the Arsenal manager said.

"When you attack somebody individually, you have to apologise unless you stick to your guns and you think you are right."