A former Chelsea player has revealed that Jose Mourinho always had the same game plan going into fixtures against rivals Arsenal
John Obi Mikel once revealed Jose Mourinho’s game plan for Chelsea’s matches against Arsenal was always to “rough them up”.
During Mourinho’s two stints at Stamford Bridge, from 2004 to 2007 and 2013 to 2015, his sides frequently locked horns with Arsene Wenger’s Gunners.
The games between two of the Premier League’s top sides of that period often displayed contrasting philosophies, with Wenger’s side favouring free-flowing and creative football while Mourinho’s men focused on physical dominance and defensive organisation.
Midfielders Jack Wilshere and Mikel were among those who regularly squared off in the London derby. Wilshere featured on the Nigerian’s The Obi One podcast earlier this year, during which the former Chelsea man was asked about the Special One’s approach in the build-up to those intense showdowns.
Mikel explained: “Well, we knew our tactic was to rough them up. You had to be tough, you had to be aggressive. That was the only way we could stop them because technically they were so good. They were much better than us technically, no doubt about that.
“But we knew that if we were just able to rough them up and be in their faces throughout the game, we’d get results. We could beat them that way.
“So for us, every time we played against Arsenal it was simple: stay compact, get into their faces and make sure we don’t let their creative players have the space to express themselves.”
He continued: “It was always tough but we found a way of playing against them which was very effective and we never changed.”
That was certainly true as Wenger took on Mourinho’s Chelsea 15 times in total across both of the Portuguese manager’s spells in west London.
From those 15 encounters, Wenger’s only triumph over Mourinho came in the 2015 Community Shield, while Mourinho secured eight victories, including five in Premier League fixtures alone.
The rivalry occasionally boiled over, most famously in the 2007 League Cup final, where Mikel was sent off alongside Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor after an on-pitch melee as Chelsea lifted the trophy. Wenger and Mourinho also had their share of clashes on the touchline, as well as verbal jibes exchanged in press conferences.
Though the fixture today bears little resemblance to those encounters in terms of the two clubs’ playing styles and their animosity towards one another, they have emerged as the two strongest sides in the division this campaign.
League leaders Arsenal make the short journey to Stamford Bridge on Sunday with the belief they can stretch their advantage over the Blues to nine points, while victory for Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea would reduce the gap to three points in second place.
