[salastampa] Mourinho on Wenger (and more)

Dal Times di ieri

At last Mourinho finds praise for his rival
by frank praverman and agencies

Jose Mourinho put aside two years of sniping to commiserate with Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, over their Champions League defeat. But true to form, the Chelsea coach still had time to take a swipe.

Mourinho was full of admiration for the way Arsenal's young players conducted themselves after going down to ten men in Wednesday's final against Barcelona when Jens Lehmann, the goalkeeper, was sent off.

He even admitted that Wenger deserves to win Europe's greatest domestic prize for everything he has achieved in football already.

"With the career that Wenger has behind him I feel he deserves to win the Champions League one day," said Mourinho. "You look at the first line coaches in Europe like myself, Ancelotti, Ferguson, Rijkaard, Benitez and perhaps they all have the luck to be European champions.

"I think Wenger deserved it and I did feel sorry for them. Arsenal played very well and it was hard for them to do more than they did. The players were very tired and were in no condition to change the result.

"I think English football can be proud of what Arsenal did in Paris because they played a very good game. I was not supporting any team in particular and was just hoping for a good game."

The former Porto coach was also glad that Thierry Henry, the Arsenal forward, had decided to remain in England.

"It is fantastic that he is staying in the Premiership," he said. "English football should be proud that we have Michael Ballack playing in this country and it is the same with Thierry Henry.

"I need the other teams to be weak and don't want them to be strong, but I am happy that he is staying. Of course Arsenal will be stronger with him but we want the Premiership to be the best.

"For me Thierry is a top player. When you talk about top strikers in the world he is in the first level of that. If Arsenal had to sell him they would sell him to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Milan. It would never be to a direct opponent in the Premiership.

"Arsenal have a good team and will be much stronger next year. They will not have the Henry story hanging over them because he will have a long-term contract."

But Mourinho left the season behind with a parting shot over young midfielder Theo Walcott, who was surprisingly included in England's World Cup squad despite never having played a game for Arsenal.

"If Walcott was at Chelsea he would have played more than he has at Arsenal," he said. "He has not featured for them but I would have played him in our last two games against Blackburn and Newcastle."

Meanwhile, Mourinho insists unhappy striker Didier Drogba and French defender William Gallas will not be allowed to quit the club, although he is willing to let Hernan Crespo, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Carlton Cole, Lenny Pidgeley and Glen Johnson go.

Drogba claimed he wished to move because he no longer enjoyed playing in England after being labelled a 'diver' last season. Gallas, who has one year left on his current contract, is frustrated at not being able to play in his more orthodox centre-back position.

However, Mourinho said: "Didier has two more years on his contract and he is one of the players I consider not negotiable - he has no possibility to leave.

"If he does not play with happiness, he does not play - it is the same with Gallas. I like Shevchenko but my feeling is Milan don't want to sell him and they will keep him.

"A lot of teams would like Drogba but they can't have him. That is the power of the clubs.

"Carlton is one of the players we are open for negotiations. I am not saying I do not want him here because that is not true.

"I'm not saying I want to push him away from Chelsea because it is not true. But I am saying that with a player like Drogba and another striker that we will buy for sure, his opportunities are not very good here.

"He is at an age where he needs to play football and we will try to find a good solution for him - either on loan or by selling him. We will try to find a solution. So we are waiting for clubs and possibilities to try and analyse what is best for him and best for the club.

"Because of the age of some of the players and they don't have so many opportunities at Chelsea, we can look for a different step for their careers.

"I don't want to push them, I am not saying I don't like them or trust them. I am not saying I am desperate to move them - that is not the case.

"They want more for themselves but the situation is not easy for them at Chelsea. For example Glen Johnson is a great boy but he has Paulo Ferreira and Geremi with a lot of experience in front of him.

"Robert Huth is the same thing. He is a player present in the World Cup but you look at him at Chelsea and he has Ricardo Carvalho and Gallas and John Terry ahead of him.

"You have Lenny Pidgeley's situation - he has played 100 minutes in the Premiership. How can a goalkeeper of 21 survive not playing football? So this is the kind of player we have to think about getting a solution that is good for him and the club.

"The position with Eidur is that he is a great football player. We want to keep him but we are open to speak with clubs about him if they show a real interest in him."