Arsene Wenger has hit back at Jose Mourinho after the Portuguese reopened his war of words with the former Arsenal boss.
Wenger’s autobiography, My Life in Red and White, was released last week and contains no mention of Mourinho despite their various duels down the year.
When Mourinho was asked about his omission, the Tottenham manager suggested it was because of his superior record to Wenger in head-to-head clashes between the pair.
“You are not going to do a chapter about 12 or 14 matches and never win one so why should he speak about me in his book?” he said. “A book is a thing to make you happy, to make you proud so I understand perfectly the situation.”
And Wenger, who previously noted that he did not want to discuss managers still involved in the game in his book, responded directly to Mourinho’s claim in an interview on Sunday.
“It doesn't bother me," he told Canal+ of his latest spat with the former Chelsea and Manchester United head coach. “It is permanent provocation. I feel like I'm in kindergarten with him. But, that's part of his personality.
“It's wrong, we beat him twice. We won, and there were also a lot of draws. And it is not 'you' who wins, you only participate in the victory. It is 'us' who win. The manager is there to get the most out of a team.”
Wenger also discussed his exit from Arsenal in 2018, stating his belief that the club lacked leadership immediately after his departure.
“What I see is that the club have started to reinvest a lot, and things started off badly,” he added.
“There was disunity. We no longer knew who was in charge and that's never good. Now they've created a unit, and now it's about making good technical decisions.
“You have to find some form of stability and balance. That will be the job of [Mikel] Arteta, who must find the balance between defending and attacking.
“Mikel Arteta does a good job, yes. The club has regained its values, but it is in the long term that we will see if the values will continue to be represented. Before, Arsenal was respected because we gave young people a chance.”
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