15 February 2024 , 15:00
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Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insisted his rivalry with Arsene Wenger was never personal - but he enjoyed beating Arsenal every time.
Mourinho’s bitter feud with Wenger was one of the ugliest managerial conflicts in Premier League history and stoked up bad feelings between Chelsea and Arsenal. But Mourinho says he feared playing Newcastle more than Arsenal during his time at Chelsea even though Wenger was one of his biggest rivals for the title.
Mourinho, in an interview with Rio Ferdinand’s VIBE with FIVE podcast, said: “I was never looking for it, but the rivalry arrived in my direction but never such a bad feeling that I crossed the road when I saw the guy in the street.
“Like me and Wenger we had our things on the touchline, we had words, but what I enjoyed most was beating Arsenal every time we played against them. It was every time. Every time it was Chelsea - boom, boom, boom, it was what I enjoyed.
“I didn’t enjoy playing at Newcastle. I never win. It was always lose or draw. I think I won there once, probably with Chelsea and with Man United or Tottenham. But I think I only won there once or twice.
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“There was never a rivalry there with Pardew or Allardyce but I just knew going there would be really, really hard every time. I have very good relations with managers even when we had this rivalry.
“I have nothing with Pep Guardiola. I respect the fact that Inter played Barcelona four times in the same season in the Champions League and then Real Madrid and Barcelona. But never a bad rivalry, we just played a lot.”
The two managers had a strained relationship in England (Arsenal FC/Getty)
Jose Mourinho is looking for his next job in management following his Roma sacking (Getty)Mourinho admits that he is now desperate to get back into work as a manager and has already turned down an approach from Saudi Arabia. He has no desire to go back to Manchester United but wants a new challenge.
He added: “I was having lunch with my guys and I was telling them that if I can work tomorrow, then I work tomorrow. I don’t enjoy any day without work.
"I don’t understand anyone who speaks about sabbatical time because sabbatical gives me one thing: depression. I have had offers but they were not the right ones.”
Watch the full interview with Jose Mourinho here
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