Arsene Wenger vs Jose Mourinho

The stats make unhappy reading for north London. Arsenal’s Wenger has lost six, drawn five, scored six and conceded 19 against his arch rival. The wait for a first win goes on.And while the match takes centre stage, stand by for the usual sub-plot between the warring pair.For there is no doubt that Mourinho knows exactly how to get under the skin of Wenger and appears to relish the opportunity to do so.Sportsmail looks at the longest managerial feud in the Premier League.Where it all beganA decade ago Mourinho was the brash new boy who refused to kow-tow to anyone, especially the establishment. In the summer of 2005 the outspoken Portuguese suggested the fixture list was arranged to favour Arsenal and within a month Wenger was questioning Chelsea’s negative tactics. War was declared.Mourinho’s quote at the time: ‘Some clubs are treated as devils, some are treated as angels. I don’t think we are so ugly that we should be seen as the devil and I don’t think Arsene Wenger and David Dein are so beautiful that they should be seen as angels.’Wenger’s dig: ‘We live in a world where we only have winners and losers but once a sport encourages teams who refuse to take the initiative, the sport is in danger.’The ‘voyeur’ momentOf all the verbal rows between Wenger and Mourinho, this is the one which will never be forgotten. The Arsenal manager had criticised Chelsea’s big spending in the autumn of 2005 and Mourinho responded furiously, labelling his rival a ‘voyeur’ and accusing him of being obsessed with Chelsea.Mourinho said: ‘He is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.’Wenger hit back: ‘I find it out of order, disconnected with reality and disrespectful. When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent.’Final word to Mourinho: ‘We have a file of quotes from Mr Wenger about Chelsea in the last 12 months – it is not a file of five pages, it’s a file of 120 pages.’Valentine’s Day massacreBack in February, Chelsea were one point clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table and the ceasefire between Wenger and Mourinho was shattered after the Arsenal manager suggested his opposite number was afraid of failure.Mourinho hit back: ‘He’s a specialist in failure. If he is right and I am afraid of failure it is because I didn’t fail many times. Eight years without silverware, that’s failure.’One month on and with Wenger’s 1,000th game on the agenda, Mourinho was offered the chance to retract but declined.Statistics do not lieOver the years Wenger has beaten most managers but the Jose jinx continues and the form book would place Chelsea as the favourites on Sunday.A quirk of the fixture list meant that Arsenal played their London rivals on Wenger’s 500th and 1,000th game and Mourinho emerged victorious both times.Last season’s landmark occasion was ruined for Wenger as Chelsea thrashed his side 6-0 having conceded twice in the first seven minutes through Samuel Eto’o and Andre Schurrle.(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.Az