Arsenal manager pays tribute to Mourinho
Arsene Wenger has praised the 'quality' of Jose Mourinho
and believes his exit from Chelsea is 'sad'.
The Portuguese left The Blues on Thursday after a break down in his
relationship with the club's hierarchy.
Premier League bosses have been queuing up to pay tribute to
Mourinho and Arsenal chief Wenger has offered his verdict.
"It is basically sad because I feel Mourinho is a manager of
quality," Wenger told the club's official website.
"I am a great believer in technical stability and therefore I don't
think it is good news for football."
Respect
On their fractious relationship Wenger added: "We didn't get on the
best, but recently it has become better.
"That does not hide the fact I respected what he did and the
quality of his work.
"Of course he is a great manager. He arrived when Chelsea were on
the way up; they had a good side already and he did something more
and made them winners.
"He deserves a lot of credit for that because it is never easy to
win and in England it is maybe more difficult."
Talented coach
Wenger is also keen to see how Mourinho's replacement Avram Grant
fares in the role of Chelsea manager.
The Frenchman added: "I know him very well from Israel. I have very
good relations with Avram.
"When he was manager of Israel he visited some clubs and he came
here through some common connections we had and since we have had
very good relations.
"He is a very talented coach. I don't know if he is just filling in
or will take over for the longer term, but we will see what kind of
changes he makes."