Mikel Arteta Refutes Jose Mourinho’s Specialist In Failure Comments

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

This story just will not go away. Several months ago, an angry Jose Mourinho called Arsenal manager a “specialist in failure” after Wenger accused Mourinho of deflecting title talk because he was afraid to fail. With Wenger in position to win his first trophy in eight years, the talk has resurfaced and this time it is Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta who has come to his manager’s defense. Arteta joined Arsenal from Everton as a replacement for Cesc Fabregas but he has yet to replicate the form and skills that Fabregas brought to the table. Nonetheless, this is his first chance at silverware with the club and he did well to defend his manager.

Mikel Arteta on Mourinho’s criticism of Arsene Wenger:

"If you analyse everything he has done for this club, if he is a failure — I have a different opinion. I don’t like it when someone criticises any of my team-mates, the staff, the manager, the club. When they are right, maybe you can accept that everybody makes mistakes. But when he (Mourinho) comes in a certain way, I don’t like it. We don’t need to answer to anybody."

Arsene Wenger has done remarkably well in the Premier League if the expectations for his club was to finish in the top four every year and be competitive. Unfortunately for Wenger, he manages a club where winning is a part of the tradition and to go nearly a decade without a single trophy is unacceptable. The worst aspect of Wenger’s drought is the manner in which it happens.

Mikel Arteta and the rest of the Arsenal boys usually sit at the top of the Premier League table early in the season but eventually, they fail to seal the deal and end up third or fourth. Arsene Wenger has won his fair share of trophies but these days his name is more synonymous with failure than anything else.

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