By IANS
London : Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made one last dig at his old rival Jose Mourinho by saying the former Chelsea boss spent more time trying to entertain the media than focusing on football.
“It is one thing to be entertaining in press conferences but it is not the same value as being entertaining on the pitch. That is what people love football for and there is no doubt Chelsea have the resources to replace him with another top-class manager,” Wenger was quoted as saying by The Sun here Saturday.
Wenger, who clashed with Mourinho, on countless occasions on and off the pitch, went on to add that although the Portuguese’s arrival made the Premier League more interesting.
“I want to be working in the best league in the world and confronted by the best managers. Mourinho’s arrival made this league more interesting because it brought another club into the top-level flight.
“Before it was just Arsenal and Manchester United, now there is also Chelsea, Liverpool and others,” said Wenger.
The Arsenal manager also felt that Mourinho spent too much time trying to prove a point to the press, when he should have been concentrating on the success of the club.
Asked whether the Premier League would be poorer for Mourinho’s absence, Wenger laughed: “It will certainly be poorer if it is true what they say about his pay-off from Chelsea!
“It is difficult from the outside to assess how much Chelsea’s success was down to Mourinho’s quality, how much down to Abramovich’s money and how much to the fact he inherited a good side which had finished second the previous year.”
Wenger went on to add that he feels the reason for Mourinho’s departure was more to do with the back room antics and his disagreements with Abramovich than his lack of entertaining football.
The Gunners boss also said that he feels Chelsea will bounce back and that he does not expect a player exodus, adding: “There is no danger Chelsea will fall apart.
“It is normal that some players are unhappy whenever a manager leaves, but it is not their job to say who runs the team.”