Jose Mourinho responds to Arsene Wenger and defends his strategies this season

Arsenal have been on an 8-game winning run in the Premier League

Jose Mourinho will take Chelsea to Emirates on Sunday in an attempt to open up a 13-point lead between them and second-placed Arsenal. Going into the game, Mourinho has brushed aside Arsene Wenger’s claims that it is “easy to defend”.

“It’s not easy, not easy,” the Portuguese manager said. Further adding, “If it was easy you wouldn’t lose 3-1 at home to Monaco [in the Champions League]. If he defends well he draws 0-0 against Monaco and wins in Monte Carlo. It’s not easy to defend.”

Mourinho then addressed his team’s recent performances that have been largely below par, though, they are getting results.

“Injuries and suspensions: we lost progressively the balance of our team. We played amazingly well during the most part of the season, scoring a lot of goals and controlling games very well through the quality of our possession. In the last period we are more strategic, less artistic, because from a certain moment Diego injured or suspended; [Nemanja] Matic suspended, injured; [Cesc] Fàbregas injured, suspended; Diego injured again.”

“When you lose crucial pieces, the team loses certain qualities but we are still achieving results. It’s like if you are at sea and your boat sinks, you need something to survive. A raft.

“In football, team spirit and team ethics, and strategy, is this. We have been top of the league since day one. We are the second team in terms of goals scored. We are the second-best team for goals conceded. The team with fewest defeats. We have some of the most spectacular team goals of the season. So, if we manage to win the league, we did everything right.”

Wenger will be looking forward to Sunday because of his team’s formidable recent form. If Arsenal are able to slow the Chelsea juggernaut, it might just give them hope to push on for more. But, to do so, Wenger will have to break his hoodoo against Mourinho – getting no wins from 12 previous meetings against “the special one”, whose team have been top of the table all season.