Mourinho lets loose on ‘failure’ Wenger

FA CUP FIFTH ROUND:

Jose Mourinho admitted Arsene Wenger’s comments about “fear” annoyed him, driving the Portuguese to describe the Arsenal manager as a “specialist in failure”.

Mourinho also accused Wenger of being obsessed with Chelsea, echoing his notorious “voyeur” comment from 2005 — but did specifically apologise for that older insult.

Other than that single show of contrition, the Stamford Bridge manager proceeded to criticise Wenger from virtually all angles.

As if that and Mourinho’s irritated mood were not enough, the Chelsea boss specifically admitted the Frenchman’s comments got under his skin, and maintained he had to respond.

That perhaps puts a different spin on talk of mind games and who exactly riled who, but there can be no disputing Mourinho has now significantly escalated the situation.

His stunning reaction also felt somewhat harsh, since Wenger did not specifically attack the Portuguese for “fear of failure”, even if the Arsenal manager’s comments did feel somewhat premeditated.

Earlier in the day, Wenger appeared to goad Mourinho by stating “only Chelsea can lose (the title race) because they are in front and all the other teams can win it”.

The French boss was then asked why some managers were downplaying their chances of the title. In the question, Mourinho’s name was not mentioned, and Wenger merely responded: “It’s fear to fail.”

The Chelsea manager, however, had clearly been waiting for the chance to respond. On having Wenger’s comments put to him at his later press conference, Mourinho immediately attacked.

“He is a specialist in failure. I’m not. So if supposing he’s right and I’m afraid of failure, it’s because I don’t fail many times.

“So maybe he’s right. I’m not used to failing. But the reality is he’s a specialist because, eight years without a piece of silverware, that’s failure. If I did that in Chelsea, I’d leave and not come back.”

Speaking later to the daily newspapers, Mourinho maintained he did not seek conflict, but was told that his barb had already gone “around the world”.

“It also goes around the world what he said before that,” Mourinho answered, before being asked did it annoy him.

“Yes. He loves to look at this football club. I saw between 2007 and 2013 was enough time for him to forget this, but it looks like he always likes to look at this (club).

“Am I afraid of failure? What is that?

“I believe, at the end of the day, I’ll be the unpolite guy, the one who’s aggressive in his words. But of course not. He is saying we’re not candidates because we’re afraid of failure. Failure of what?

“Not winning a title this year... or in two years? I have a lot of respect for him. Failure is not winning a title in seven or eight years. That’s failure. Am I aggressive in my words? I don’t know.”

When it was put to Mourinho he once called Wenger a “voyeur”, he immediately interjected. “I’m sorry for that, so sorry for that.”

Mourinho, however, was not sorry for what he feels is fair ambition with this Chelsea team.

“If I don’t win a trophy in four years, I don’t want a new contract. It’s as simple as that. I don’t think a manager should be embarrassed when he gives everything, tries everything, dedicates himself to the club, the project and the collective dream. If you don’t get results, that’s football. But for my mentality, my mentality, there is a limit. There is a limit. And you have to be strong enough and proud enough to admit when it’s enough. And the club gave me a four-year contract — four years, no? And that’s the period where I want to give everything and try to get results. If I don’t, I think that’s normal. That’s normal in football.”

Mourinho was asked how long he thinks it will take him to win a trophy.

“I have no idea. I’m not worried about it. I really believe in the work, in the quality of work. I really believe. So I think, sooner or later, a trophy will arrive.”

Would he get eight years? “No.”

Of course, it is eminently possible Chelsea could win a trophy this year if they beat Manchester City for the third successive game, in today’s FA Cup last-16 tie at the Etihad.

“They are good all over,” Mourinho stated. “You close the right side and (Aleksandar) Kolarov makes fantastic crosses the other side.

“They are good at everything — set-pieces and every aspect of the game. Is Yaya Toure important? Yes. He’s so important that the FA decided he has to play this game.”

That, of course, was a barb about the fact the midfielder avoided suspicion for his kick at Norwich’s Ricky Wolfswinkel last week. City boss Manuel Pellegrini refused to rise to Mourinho’s midweek comments about the incident, for which the Portuguese had another response — this time a richly ironic one.

“I also don’t like a lot to speak about other managers. I think he’s right. So if he doesn’t want to speak about me, that’s perfect.”