Arsenal Football Club

• Nickname:Gunners
• Founded:1886
• Manager:Arsene Wenger

• Ground:Emirates
• Capacity:60432

Wenger hails 'quality' Jose

21 Sep 2007 - 16:59:52

Click To Enlarge

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has paid tribute to Jose Mourinho after calling him "a manager of quality" following his Chelsea exit.

Mourinho left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent in a shock move on Wednesday night and Wenger, who has not always seen eye-to-eye with his Portuguese counterpart, believes his departure will be a loss to English football.

"It is basically sad because I feel Mourinho is a manager of quality," said the Frenchman

"I am a great believer in technical stability and therefore I don't think it is good news for football.

"We didn't get on the best but recently it has become better. That does not hide the fact I respected what he did and the quality of his work.

"Of course he is a great manager. He arrived when Chelsea were on the way up - they had a good side already and he did something more and made them winners.

"He deserves a lot of credit for that because it is never easy to win and in England it is maybe more difficult.

"I thought for a while, when he extended his contract, he was on the same way of thinking as I or (Sir Alex) Ferguson, where we try to impart something over a longer period at the club."