Jose Mourinho has taken another swipe at old rival Arsene Wenger by claiming the Arsenal manager has only himself to blame for failing to find a solution to his dismal record against the Chelsea boss.
Wenger has failed to record a single victory over Mourinho in their 13 meetings and ahead of their latest showdown in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, the Chelsea manager mischievously suggested the Frenchman needed to work harder to come up with an answer.
Asked what he would be thinking if the roles were reversed and he had not beaten Wenger for so long, Mourinho said: “I think I would ask myself why. I would to try to answer but not because of a mental block but because I would want to try to find solutions to help my team to do it.
“Try to find a different way, try to find the reasons why it goes all the time against my team. But just that.”
Former Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Porto manager Mourinho says he has never been on the wrong end of such a wretched run against a manager, referencing only successive defeats against the same COACH but different teams and in different seasons.
“I lost twice against Tony Pulis,” he said. “I lost against Palace (in March 2014) and against West Bromwich (in May 2015). One game each.”
Wenger and Mourinho have exchanged barbs through the media for years and their antagonistic relationship turned physical last year when the Arsenal manager pushed his Chelsea counterpart during a touchline row.
Yet, after leading Chelsea to the Premier League title last season, Mourinho insisted extending his fine run against Wenger isn’t his main concern in Sunday’s annual curtain raiser to the English season.
“I don’t think about what happened before, I just think about the game,” Mourinho said.
“For me, six, seven, eight or nine matches without losing makes (no) difference and I don’t think affects this game.
“For me there is no relation between one game and what happened before.
“It’s not a friendly game but it’s not a statement for the season. Arsenal last season won the Community Shield against the champions (Manchester City) and finished third.
“It’s not a friendly. But I don’t think it has a relation to the rest of the season.”
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