Jose Mourinho didn’t need to win this game. He didn’t even need to draw this game. He can be eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage, knocked out of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge by the Wheeltappers and Shunters social club second eleven, and be relegated to the Championship and it won’t bother him a jot. Why? Because he has what nobody else in Britain has had since Lord Ferg retired. He has job security!
He knows Roman Abramovich so well that he knows the innermost thoughts of the Chelsea owner without being told what they are.
Convinced as he is that he has a job for life that still didn’t stop him urging, cajoling and pushing his team hard for the victory which keeps him in the competition if not important in keeping him in a job.
Chelsea were not their last-season-excellent selves, they were just efficient and did a good job when that was what was required. A 2-0 win sees them stagger into the knockout stage where they will lose to either Benfica, PSG or Juventus.
Arsene Wenger didn’t need to win this game. He didn’t even need to draw this game. He can be eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage, knocked out of the FA Cup at The Emirates by The Kicking Donkey reserve team, and be relegated to the Championship and it won’t bother him a jot. Why? Because he has what nobody else in Britain has had since Lord Ferg retired. He has job security!
He doesn’t know the innermost thoughts of the Arsenal owner because he is above all that kind of thing. In fact, he is above the Arsenal owner.
Safe in the knowledge that he has a job for life he sat calmly on the bench while his team set about demolishing Olympiakos to book their passage into the knockout stage. A 3-0 win saw them also stagger through to the next round where they will be eliminated by one of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid.
So both London clubs made it through and one of the Manchester clubs. It is hard to say that the qualifiers didn’t deserve their success, they qualified so they did deserve it. The fact remains though, that both Chelsea and Arsenal needed wins to be certain of going through on the last day, Arsenal needing to win by two clear goals or 3-2 or better.
They both managed to do what they needed to do, unlike Manchester United who managed to do what they didn’t need to do and, consequently, are out, leaving Louis van Gaal furiously trying to come up with excuses as to why this wasn’t his fault.
Manchester City were the most convincing of the English sides and will probably go the furthest in the competition.
For Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger they will continue to try and win things because that is their nature. Mourinho usually succeeds at some stage. Wenger occasionally succeeds. It doesn’t matter though because, even if they win nothing, they both know they have a job for life.
The only thing that could ever upset the equilibrium which exists in the minds of Wenger and Mourinho is if they are wrong in their assumptions.
The closest Wenger ever comes to leaving Arsenal is when the fans turn on him. His stubbornness has usually got him through these darker days, but it may not always do so.
The closest Mourinho ever comes to leaving Chelsea is when Abramovich decides he wants a change, which he may do so sooner than Jose thinks.
I get the impression that both would like to retire at the clubs they currently manage. For Wenger this is probably a realistic desire. For Mourinho it is probably a pipe-dream, but I hope not.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 