Arsene Wenger says he did not feel comfortable talking about managers who are still active in his autobiography as he finally explained the reason behind Jose Mourinho’s snub.
Despite their long rivalry and often heated touchline battles – which even turned physical on one notable occasion – there is not one mention of the Tottenham Hotspur manager in Wenger’s book.
Mourinho, who only lost once to the legendary French coach while in charge of Manchester United, had his own theory for why that was the case.
‘Because he never beat me!’ laughed the Portuguese recently. ‘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?
‘A book is a thing to make you happy, to make you proud so I understand perfectly the situation.’
But Wenger has now clarified that the reason he omitted Mourinho from his memoir was because he did not want to make comments about current managers, with plenty of other active coaches also not getting a mention.
‘But every time I didn’t I regretted it because I hadn’t behaved as I should and I felt responsibility towards the club for that.
‘Sometimes I thought I was provoked or resented the behaviour of somebody else. Some games I went in with an aggressive level above what it should be, so it didn’t take much to go overboard.
‘It was a bit like that with Jose Mourinho but now it has calmed down. That is why in the book I only speak about Ferguson because we are not in the job any more.
‘Ferguson was a bad loser, like me. I didn’t want to talk about managers like Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola, who are still working.’
Wenger was far from impressed with Mourinho’s jibe, telling Canal Plus last week: ‘With him it’s constant provocation. I feel like I am at kindergarten, but that is part of his personality.’
