Mourinho’s treating Wenger with team selection
JOSE MOURINHO says there is no need to make peace with old foe Arsene Wenger as there are no problems between them.
Arsenal need victory against Manchester United tomorrow to bolster their ailing top-four hopes. To do that, underfire Wenger will need to finally beat Mourinho in a Premier League match at the 13th time of asking.
Mourinho once labelled Wenger a “specialist in failure” but the United manager insists talk of a truce is unnecessary.
“He doesn’t need to [make peace],” Mourinho said. “He doesn’t need to because there are no problems.
“In the last match at Old Trafford, we shook hands before, after. I remember that I still met him in the corridor for the press conferences, we shook hands again.
“He doesn’t need to make peace. When there is peace, I don’t have to have a problem.
“I am a big boy, I’m in football all my life. I know that when there is a problem on the pitch, the next day it is not a problem.
“He will be very, very pleased with me that I am going to change my team to play against Arsenal.”
Mourinho plans to rest some players with an eye on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Celta Vigo, who they have a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Spain.
The Europa League is now Mourinho’s main focus as he believes their top-four tilt is all but over, despite sitting fifth and a mere point behind Manchester City.
“We are going to try [to win],” the Portuguese said of the trip to north London. “We are not going to Arsenal to say, ‘Beat us’, or ‘Beat us five or 6-0’. We are going there to fight for a result.
“We have to be human with the players, we have to be sensible in relation to our situation in the Premier League.
“And I think the last match against Swansea was our last chance to fight for top four, so I am going to rest players, yeah.”