Chapter 315: Chelsea and Arsenal
In 2003, Abou bought Chelsea Football Club, and on 2 June 2004, Jose Mourinho landed at Chelsea, and Abou's deep pockets and coaching ability quickly changed the face of English football.
Chelsea in west London first made the world of football a big picture by bringing in a number of stars, and became the face of commercial football, and in the following two seasons, Chelsea won back-to-back Premier League titles with a solid defence, and became one of the Premier League's big four.
At this time, Arsenal began to decline, after the relocation from the 93-year-old Highbury Stadium to the Emirates Stadium, due to the debt to build the stadium seriously affected Arsenal's recruitment, Wenger's team entered a difficult and bumpy years.
The most obvious response to the rivalry between clubs is the results of the head-to-head competition, with Arsenal's rivalry with Chelsea in recent years being both classic and controversial, with rivals such as Sendros and Drogba and topical figures such as Ashley Cole and Cesc Fabregas.
In the 2007 League Cup final, players from both sides fought so hard that even Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho had to take to the pitch to participate in the fight, which was really a microcosm of the London derby.
As a result, the two clubs in the same city began to compete, and each other became rivals to win the championship, and the fans of the two teams began to pay attention to and hostile each other, coupled with the media to add fuel to the fire, Arsenal and Chelsea, a pair of former enemies, have become bitter derby rivals in recent days.
The London derby has been exacerbated by the opposing style of play and other factors, and the feuds between teams in world football are often linked to player transfers, and Chelsea and Arsenal are no exception.
The transfer of Ashley Cole in 2006 was a huge addition to the fire, as Ashley Cole, who came through the Arsenal Academy and joined the first team in 1998 and went on to become Arsenal's starting left-back, winning two Premier League titles with the club.
In January 2005, the British media revealed that Ashley Cole and his agent Barnet had a private meeting with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at a hotel, for which the Football Team was fined a total of 10,000 pounds.
The British tabloid vividly described Ashley Cole's mentality of wanting to transfer to Chelsea after a failed contract extension: "Ashley Cole, who was on the road, suddenly received a phone call, he looked at the caller ID, it was the Arsenal club calling, Ashley Cole hooked the corner of his lips, picked up the phone, but heard the bad news that Arsenal refused to raise his salary to 55,000 pounds, he slammed on the brakes, and almost hit the fence on the side of the road. ”
At that time, Chelsea's financial resources were obviously incomparable to Arsenal's, on the one hand, Chelsea offered Ashley Cole a weekly salary of 80,000 pounds, and on the other hand, the private meeting incident seriously affected the relationship between Arsenal and Ashley Cole.
The transfer tug-of-war lasted for more than a year, and it was not until a few hours before the transfer window closed on 31 August 2006 that the two sides finally agreed on the transfer of Ashley Cole, with the England left-back finally donning the Chelsea shirt.
Arsenal were hurt by the departure of their own children in this way, and some fans printed replica banknotes of Ashley Cole's face to express their sadness and anger, and since then, Ashley Cole has been a big subject for fans on both sides of the London derby.
In addition, the battle between the two coaches is a must in the Premier League, Mourinho and Wenger's bickering continues to innovate, never disappointing the audience, and with the help of the media, countless onlookers can't stop coaxing the media to shoot the case.
In this atmosphere, it is naturally difficult for Arsenal and Chelsea to remain calm, and it is inevitable that they will stand up for their own managers on and off the pitch, and from England to the rest of the world, the London derby has become a spectacular and unique scenery in the Premier League.
Jose Mourinho, who left Stamford Bridge for the second time, joined Manchester United, his derby opponent became Manchester City, and Arsene Wenger, who has been in the Premier League for more than 20 years, has also been rumored to retire many times.
When the clash between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger would eventually become an interesting moment in football history, the London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal became a classic of English football.
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Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger's first meeting dates back to Jose Mourinho's arrival at Chelsea, when a journalist asked Arsene Wenger about Arsenal's foreign players in 2005, Wenger said: "I don't think Chelsea have more homegrown players than us, they have a John Terry. ”
In an interview in August of the same year, Arsene Wenger slammed Mourinho's tactical strategy, saying: "I know we are in an era of wins and losses, but once sport encourages those teams to do things that go against the sport's original purpose, then the sport is coming to an end." ”
Mourinho was dismissive of Wenger's comments, saying: "There seems to be some problem between Wenger and us, I think he is what you call a voyeur, he likes to spy on people so much, just like the kind of person who peeps into his neighbour's house with a telescope on what is going on in his neighbor's house.
Arsene Wenger is that kind of person, it's a disease, it has to be cured, otherwise he always talks about Chelsea. ”
In response, Arsene Wenger countered: "Mourinho's words are completely inconsistent with the facts, and he doesn't know how to respect at all, if you let stupid guys get success, then they will be more stupid, they won't be smarter because of it." ”
Mourinho naturally returned it, and he responded: "At Stamford Bridge, there is a document dedicated to Arsene Wenger's talk about Chelsea in the last 12 months, and this is not a five-page document, this is a 120-page document. ”
Jose Mourinho left Stamford Bridge for the first time, and it seemed that the hostility between him and Arsene Wenger should have eased, but in fact, they never stopped talking at all.
Jose Mourinho said in 2008 when he was at Real Madrid: "Did you know that Arsene Wenger only wins 50 per cent of the Premier League? ”
In this regard, Wenger also said a lot: "What you see on TV is the best proof that such things can no longer be indulged. Frankly, it's horrible to have something like this in a big team. ”
Arsene Wenger's remarks also succeeded in annoying Mourinho, who responded to Wenger with fierce words: "Wenger should talk more about his Arsenal than Real Madrid and explain why they lost 2-0 to a team that is playing in the Champions League for the first time.
Arsenal are not all little dolls, Sagna, Klich, Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Robin van Persie, Arshavin are not children, they are all top players. ”
And when Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, Arsene Wenger was the first to take the lead and suppress Mourinho verbally, this time focusing on Mata.
Chelsea sold Juan Mata to Manchester United after two legs of a tie with Manchester United, and Chelsea's main rivals still have to deal with Manchester United.