19th October, 2020
Arsene Wenger has responded to Jose Mourinho’s comments about the former Arsenal manager’s autobiography, labeling the situation with the Tottenham Hotspur boss as making it feel like he was in ‘kindergarten with him’.
Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996, winning major honours with the Gunners, including the historic Invincible season in 2004.
The Frenchman, 70, recently released his autobiography My Life in Red and White in which he detailed his long-term relationship with the North London club.
While the book touched upon Wenger’s famed rivalry with former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho was suspiciously missing.
When quizzed about it, Mourinho hinted at his on-field supremacy over Wenger as the reason behind his absence in the book.
Wenger has now responded to the former Real Madrid tactician’s comments.
“It doesn’t bother me,” he told Canal+.
“It is a permanent provocation. I feel like I’m in kindergarten with him. But, that’s part of his personality.
“It’s wrong, we beat him twice. We won, and there were also a lot of draws. And it is not ‘you’ who wins, you only participate in the victory. It is ‘us’ who win. The manager is there to get the most out of a team.”
Wenger stepped down from his job as Gunners boss in 2018, and was replaced by Unai Emery.
He is now FIFA’s chief of global football development, while Mourinho is now in charge of Tottenham Hotspur