Arsene Wenger, who used to be the manager of Arsenal, said that his rivalry with Jose Mourinho began in 2004 when Chelsea started spending money “they didn’t earn.”
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✅ First to use technical dataArsène Wenger on Arsenal’s impact on the Premier League in it’s 30 years. pic.twitter.com/EgbHjmNtuG
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 15, 2022
During Mourinho’s time with Chelsea and Manchester United in the Premier League, the long-time manager of Arsenal got into a few fights with him.
The 72-year-old Frenchman, who is currently the Chief of Global Football Development for FIFA, has talked about how the heated rivalry started when the “Special One” first came to England.
It all started when Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003. A year later, he hired Jose Mourinho as manager, and the team started spending a lot of money on players.
Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Arjen Robben, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Matej Kezman, and many others joined the Blues the first summer, but that was just the beginning of their big spending.
The worst might have been when Mourinho’s Chelsea club signed England and Arsenal star Ashley Cole in 2006, after a long dispute between the two clubs over the player’s transfer.
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What did Arsene Wenger say?
Wenger told Sky Sports via Football Daily, “My rivalry was more with the clubs than with the people. I never said anything about anyone personally.
At that time, I had a lot of problems with José Mourinho because I thought Chelsea was the first club to come in and spend money they didn’t earn,” he said.
🗣 “I still love Arsenal.”
Arsène Wenger on being away from the club following such a long period of time together.❤️ pic.twitter.com/vSBUO2y87A
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 15, 2022
Even though they have been rivals since the beginning, their biggest fight may have been in February 2014, when Mourinho teased Wenger by calling him a “specialist in failure.” Later that same year, they actually fought on the sidelines.
In October 2014, Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. The most memorable thing about that game is that Wenger pushed Mourinho when the two of them got into a fight after Gary Cahill tackled Alexis Sanchez hard.
When Wenger pushed him, Mourinho flicked his tie. Wenger also talked about how the start of Financial Fair Play was a “turning point” for football and the Premier League.
UEFA started Financial Fair Play in 2009. It was a way to stop clubs from spending too much and to get them to spend a fair amount of what they earn.
“At the time, there was no financial fair play. Since that time in 2004, there is now been a Financial Fair Play, and the clubs’ finances are more closely watched. All in all, that was a turning point,” he said.
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