Irish Sunday Mirror

JOSE SAYS WENGER IN

They’ve been at each other’s throats for years, but even Mourinho DOESN’T want to see his arch-enemy get the sack

- BY SIMON MULLOCK Chief Football Writer

JOSE MOURINHO insists he does NOT want to see arch-enemy Arsene Wenger get the sack.

Manchester United boss Mourinho goes head-to-head with the man he once branded “a specialist in failure” when the Reds travel to face Arsenal at the Emirates today.

Wenger is facing a fans’ revolt after a season that has seen the Gunners struggle to make the top four, but reach the FA Cup Final.

But he has an unexpected ally in old rival Mourinho, who says he feels the Frenchman’s pain.

“The truth is that I hope Wenger keeps his job at Arsenal, I really do,” claimed Mourinho.

“I hope that the club trusts him to make things better. I think that Arsene is probably the last example of a manager who brings stability to a club over such a long time.

“Sir Alex Ferguson was the same at United and he was able to leave when he knew it was time to leave. I hope that it is the same with Wenger.

“I feel sympathy for other managers because we live through the same pain. All of us.

“Football has changed. Now it is a game that makes it impossible for managers to stay in their position for a long time.

“Football now means if you don’t get success, then you are gone – so, yes, I feel bad for other managers.

“When you are at one club for 20 years, it is impossible to have success every single year. Even Sir Alex will tell you that.”

United remain in fifth place, despite a club-record 25-game same-season unbeaten run.

Arsenal are five points behind, but with a game in hand.

Mourinho has kept the pressure off at Old Trafford by winning the EFL Cup.

United can also qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League – and they took a massive step towards the final by beating Celta Vigo 1-0 in the first leg of the semi-final in Spain on Thursday night.

Mourinho and Wenger have been sworn enemies for years.

But the Portuguese was sacked by Chelsea last year and has been unable to take United into the top four, despite spending £150million in the transfer market. Mourinho insists he has been rebuilding a club that has failed to qualify for the Champions League in two of the three seasons since Ferguson retired.

He said: “I don’t care what people think about me.

“I think this has been a good season and it can still be a very good season.

“In terms of my work, I think this has been about rebuilding a team and rebuilding a club.

“For me, it has been a positive process. What people on the outside say doesn’t matter.

“It’s not important to me because I know the work that we have done this season.”

Mourinho believes finishing in the top four is now beyond United. Three of their last four games are trips to Arsenal, Tottenham and Southampto­n.

And the United boss has now made winning the Europa League his No.1 priority.

Mourinho has warned he will ring the changes at the Emirates in a bid to protect his players from fatigue in a season which has already seen them play 58 games.

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 ??  ?? I DID IT: Chelsea striker Drogba scores the winner in the 2007 League Cup Final against Arsenal
I DID IT: Chelsea striker Drogba scores the winner in the 2007 League Cup Final against Arsenal

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