Jose Mourinho couldn’t resist aiming a thinly-veiled dig at old rival Arsene Wenger regarding his proposed changes to the offside rule.
The Portuguese manager was a guest pundit for TNT Sports for Saturday’s Champions League final at Wembley, which saw Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0.
Wenger, who is now FIFA’s chief of global football development, proposed a change to the offside rule based on the ‘daylight’ principle.
This would state that an attacking player is onside if any part of his or her body is level with the defender – a proposition that he has reportedly made to football’s law-making body, the International FA Board.
Mourinho, who will be officially presented as the new boss of Fenerbahce later on Sunday, clearly isn’t a fan of the idea.
During TNT Sports’ coverage at Wembley, ex-talkSPORT presenter Laura Woods was speaking about Wenger and saying that she would love to get him over for a chat alongside Mourinho.
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In typically sarcastic fashion, Mourinho said: “Ask him about what he wants to do with the offside, oh my God.”
With a roll of the eyes, Mourinho then added: “Let me go before please.”
Mourinho’s comment sparked fits of laughter from Woods and Steve McMananan, with Rio Ferdinand exclaiming: “Jose!”
Of course Wenger and Mourinho have plenty of history with the French boss managing Arsenal for 22 years.
Mourinho’s first spell in England with Chelsea saw him win back-to-back titles to wrestle glory away from Wenger’s Invincibles side from 2004.
In his second spell with Chelsea, Mourinho won the title again in 2015, while also winning an FA Cup and three League Cups while Wenger was in charge of the Gunners.
Wenger only managed to beat Mourinho just twice in 19 matches, while also being involved in a famous touchline scuffle at Stamford Bridge in 2014.
In that period, Wenger hit out at Mourinho’s defensive tactics, saying that he was scared to fail – leading to one of the Special One’s most memorable quotes.
Speaking in 2014, Mourinho remarked: “Am I afraid of failure? He is a specialist in failure. I’m not.
“So if one supposes he’s right and I’m afraid of failure, it’s because I don’t fail many times. So maybe he’s right. I’m not used to failing.
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“But the reality is he’s a specialist because, eight years without a piece of silverware, that’s failure.”
But despite their historic battles, Mourinho has previously spoken of his undoubted respect for Wenger, saying: “You do not know the way we respect each other even when sometimes it looks like in some moments we don’t.
“I know what it means [to win] three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and not just that.
“What he did in Japan and France, what he gave to Arsenal, even in a period without Premier Leagues, all the transition of the club from stadium to stadium – we know what he did.”
News Summary:
- ‘Oh my God’ – Jose Mourinho reignites feud with ex-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger with dig over proposed rule change
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