London: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho have often clashed off the field but Gunners goalkeeper Petr Cech believes the pair share a common trait — a hatred of defeat — as motivation for success.
Wenger and Mourinho have had a fierce rivalry since the Portuguese boss moved to England in 2004 and, in the latest exchange of blows between the managers, a book earlier this year claimed that Mourinho wanted to ‘break’ the Frenchman’s face.
“They are different but there is one thing they have in common and that is, they don’t like defeats,” the 34-year-old Cech said at a recent Guinness World Records promotional event.
Cech, who spent much of his career under Mourinho at Chelsea before joining Wenger’s Arsenal in 2015, also believes that the desire to avoid defeat has kept the pair at the top of the game for so long.
“And I think this is the driving force behind the success of both of them. Because you cannot last for such a long time if you don’t have the commitment and the hunger and if you are not doing everything to avoid defeat,” Cech added.
Third-placed Arsenal host struggling Swansea City in the Premier League on Saturday, while sixth-placed United travel to take on fourth-placed Liverpool at Anfield on Monday.
— Reuters
