Master of mind games, Jose Mourinho, is at it again, continuing his decade-long feud with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger before the new season has even begun.
Both men will face each other on the sidelines on Sunday, August 2 when Chelsea, the Premier League winners, take on FA Cup holders Arsenal in the Community Shield, but Mourinho has told Wenger to “get a calculator” as the pre- season back-and-forth continues.
“If you add up the amounts clubs have spent in the last three or four years I think maybe you will find a surprise,” the Special One told The Guardian.
“If you put Özil plus Alexis Sánchez, plus Chambers, plus Debuchy, you will find a surprise.
“It’s a fantastic squad with good players, fantastic goalkeeper; they are more than ready to be title contenders. Get a calculator. That is the easiest thing; it leaves no space for speculation. If you want to be honest, objective and pragmatic it is the easiest job for a manager to do.”
Wenger, who has only signed goalkeeper Petr Cech this off-season, for £11m from Chelsea, had denied he had a transfer “war chest”, but Mourinho had previously lamented the “big spenders” of European football, including Arsenal.
But Wenger wasn’t the only manager in the firing line of Mourinho.
Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini also copped criticism, after the Chilean conducted an interview last month saying the Chelsea manager “wants to take credit for everything” and that “I differ from him on all fronts”.
In response, Mourinho was at his cheeky best, saying: “When a manager is on holidays and still thinks about me, I have nothing to say. I don’t know why he did it. In my holidays I did zero interviews. Since I left London, zero.
“Of course I am still thinking about football, yes but I don’t do any interviews, at least in that time. You are free of everything: questions, answers, controversy, interpretation and overreaction.
“My holiday time — zero. If other guys use holiday time also for interviews, it’s their problem. I don’t have a theory why.
“I finished the season, I went on holiday, nothing. To other managers — nothing. So until the first one comes, nothing. It is not a battle with the other managers. My team against the other teams, yes. My team in the competition, yes. I am more than ready.”
