Jose Mourinho has labelled Arsene Wenger a ‘specialist in failure’ as he hit back at the Arsenal manager’s accusations Chelsea are scared of not winning the title.
Mourinho has repeatedly stated the Blues are outsiders for this season’s Premier League, despite currently sitting top of the table.
And Wenger believes his counterpart’s publicly negative attitude is to disguise his fear of failure.
But Mourinho today offered a stinging response to the Gunners boss.
‘He would know, he’s the specialist [in failure], I’m not,’ said the Blues manager.
‘So if supposedly he is right and I’m afraid of failure it’s because I don’t fail many times.
‘So maybe he’s right, maybe I’m not used to failing but the reality is that he’s the specialist because he’s had eight years without a trophy. If I do that in Chelsea I leave and I don’t come back.’
Chelsea take a break from the Premier League this weekend as they travel to Manchester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup tomorrow evening, while there is another clash of the heavyweights on Sunday when Arsenal host Liverpool.
And amid speculation the Blues will make wholesale changes for the trip to the Etihad in order to save players for the Premier League, Mourinho insists the Cup is their only priority heading into the game.
‘We know they [Manchester City] are strong. Our priority is always the next match,’ he added.
‘The FA Cup is beautiful for everybody and the draw made it even more so, because two big teams will be knocked out.’