Mourinho happy taking the flak and turns his guns on
Wenger
Jose Mourinho last night goaded Arsène Wenger with a barb about
their respective Champions League records. While preparing to face
his former club Porto in tonight's Champions League second-round
tie, the Chelsea manager was invited to evaluate how he might be
judged if he fails to win the competition this season. His response
was to underline that his curriculum vitae, its principal
accomplishment achieved with tonight's hosts in 2004 while he was
their manager, already surpasses that of many of his rivals at the
top European clubs.
Article continues
"I have no idea how I will be judged," the Portuguese manager said,
noting that before that particular question he had been enjoying a
"calm and easy" press conference. "It is a difficult question
because I don't know how to answer it. If you judge me, you have to
judge every Champions League manager who has not won it because I
have won it once.
"Many managers in the world have not done it. You have a big
example not far down the road [from Chelsea]. Arsène Wenger is a
big manager in the world of football but he never did it. When I
did it once I could thank God for that because I had that
privilege. Three years ago nobody believed in February that Porto
could be champions and Porto were champions."
Arsenal, who play Chelsea in the Carling Cup final on Sunday, were
last year's runners-up in the Champions League and Wenger has
failed in three European finals as a manager, also losing the 2000
Uefa Cup final on penalties to Galatasaray with Arsenal and the
1992 Cup Winners' Cup final while at Monaco.
But though Mourinho's comments might be true it is the fact that he
and Wenger appear to have renewed hostilities after almost a year
of relative calm in their relationship that is most intriguing. The
Arsenal manager pointed on Monday to what he considers to be the
injustice of the financial situation at Stamford Bridge that
permits them to absorb £80m losses.
That might be interpreted as a bald attempt to increase the
psychological pressure on his Chelsea counterpart, but Mourinho
fought back. "I have pressure, imagine other managers in the
world," he said. "I have ambition and ambition is important;
feeling you can do it is important and having the desire, to want
to win it is important.
"I feel no pressure at all. I felt more at Porto but I have already
won the Champions League once. I feel very proud and I have nothing
to prove. We want to win and will try to win, but I feel no
pressure at all."
That sentiment was endorsed by one of his most trusted players last
night. The holding midfielder Claude Makelele, who turned 34 on
Sunday, insists that Mourinho is adept at shielding his players
from unsettling influences, something that the France international
believes will provide a platform to win two trophies this season.
"We know that Jose had big pressure from the club but he was
tremendous because he didn't show anything to us," said Makelele.
"He was always the same. He took the pressure only on himself
because he didn't want the players to be disturbed by the
situation. Now I am confident that everything is fine. I hope to
win the Champions League and the Premiership; six points is nothing
at this stage of the season."
Mourinho knows that the obituaries are already being written about
his Chelsea career following his dispute with the club's owner
Roman Abramovich. Clearly the news has reached the confines of the
Estadio do Dragao, where Lucho Gonzalez highlighted Mourinho's
predicament.
"Mourinho is in a life-and-death situation if he loses another
Champions League," said the Porto and Argentina midfielder. "So we
know they will come with all their power and motivation, but Porto
are playing samba football and we are having a great run. We have
to win. As I see it, it is a match that will prove decisive for
many people; it could decide the future of all involved."