Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has accused his Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho of showing a lack of respect after labelling the Gunners “very boring” for going 10 years without winning a trophy.
Mourinho’s comments came after Arsenal fans chanted “boring boring Chelsea” during last weekend’s 0-0 draw between the sides at the Emirates Stadium, which saw the Blues close in on the Premier League title.
Speaking to the media after that game, Mourinho responded by turning the tables back on Arsenal, saying: “You support the club and you’re waiting, waiting, waiting for so many years without a Premier League title, so that’s very boring.”
Those comments did not go down well with Wenger, who responded at a press conference on Friday morning ahead of Arsenal’s match at Hull City on Monday.
“The biggest thing for a manager is to respect other managers. Some people have to improve on that,” Wenger said.
Asked if Mourinho should conduct himself with more dignity, the Arsenal manager answered: “Look, everybody lives with his own internal problems and I live with mine. That’s enough.”
There has been no love lost between the two managers in the past, with Frenchman Wenger squaring up to Mourinho in the technical area at Stamford Bridge when the sides met earlier this season.
Wenger, who has never won in 13 meetings with Mourinho’s sides, added: “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.”
Arsenal went 10 years without claiming any major silverware until winning last season’s FA Cup, and they remain on course to retain that trophy with the final to come against Aston Villa at the end of this month.
In the meantime, the Gunners sit third in the Premier League table, behind Manchester City on goal difference but with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Wenger played down talk of a summer move for an experienced goalkeeper, with Chelsea veteran Petr Cech having been linked with a switch to the Emirates Stadium.
“I believe in the goalkeepers I have. I believe that (Wojciech) Szczesny is a very good goalkeeper and (David) Ospina has come in and done a fantastic job.Ā
“You look at the numbers in the Premier League and who is top of all the goalkeepers and you will see it is Ospina.” –Ā Agence France-Presse
