Wenger rues Mourinho's departure
Sunday, 23 September 2007
LONDON, Sept 22 (AFP): Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he was sad to see Jose Mourinho leave Chelsea despite their stormy relationship.
Wenger could have been forgiven if he breathed a sigh of relief on hearing Mourinho had left Stamford Bridge after a series of highly-public disputes with the Portuguese coach.
Mourinho infuriated Wenger when he described the Frenchman as a "voyeur" and the squabble continued when the Gunners boss responded by saying: "When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent."
But Wenger insisted he had immense respect for the way Mourinho transformed Chelsea into one of Europe's most powerful teams and won back to back Premier League titles.
"It is basically sad because I feel Mourinho is a manager of quality," he said. "We didn't get on the best but recently it had become better. That does not hide the fact I respected what he did and the quality of his work.
"I am a great believer in technical stability and therefore I don't think it is good news for football."
"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”.
Wenger could have been forgiven if he breathed a sigh of relief on hearing Mourinho had left Stamford Bridge after a series of highly-public disputes with the Portuguese coach.
Mourinho infuriated Wenger when he described the Frenchman as a "voyeur" and the squabble continued when the Gunners boss responded by saying: "When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent."
But Wenger insisted he had immense respect for the way Mourinho transformed Chelsea into one of Europe's most powerful teams and won back to back Premier League titles.
"It is basically sad because I feel Mourinho is a manager of quality," he said. "We didn't get on the best but recently it had become better. That does not hide the fact I respected what he did and the quality of his work.
"I am a great believer in technical stability and therefore I don't think it is good news for football."
"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”.