Jose Mourinho has been well and truly in the headlines in recent days following his comments about Rafa Benitez and his weight, and all of this comes in the build-up to a Charity Shield game which will reignite, arguably, the most bitter of managerial rivalries in English football… Mourinho vs. Wenger.

It’s fair to say that Arsene and Jose don’t exchange Christmas cards, with the pair pretty open in their disdain for one another, even though there is probably some mutual respect bubbling away, too.

One is a purist, the other is a pragmatist, and their conflicting philosophies have brought about some clashes through the years.

So ahead of the Charity Shield bout at Wembley, here are the FIVE biggest moments in one of the great managerial rivalries…

Where it all began

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Although this is probably one of the best eras of the Mourinho vs. Wenger battle, we feel it’s only right to kick off with how it started way back in 2005. The Portuguese boss arrived in England with a burgeoning reputation, and was clearly intent on making himself the ‘main man’, even if that meant upsetting the elder statesmen of the Premier League… Wenger in particular.

In a period where the two sides clashed about the production of English talent, the headlines were well and truly grabbed when Mourinho labelled his opposite number a “voyeur”. The quotes say it all, so here’s there exchange, played out in press conferences back in 2005:

Mourinho: “He is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.”

Wenger hit back: “I find it out of order, disconnected with reality and disrespectful. When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent.”

Mou, as ever, with the last jab: “We have a file of quotes from Mr Wenger about Chelsea in the last 12 months – it is not a file of five pages, it’s a file of 120 pages.”

Not even borders could stop them…

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Eventually when it went belly-up for Mourinho at Chelsea he sloped off to Europe, taking Inter Milan to Champions League glory before stepping into the Real Madrid dugout. As it’s one of the biggest jobs in football, the attention was on the ‘Special One’ and when both Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso picked up dubious bookings in a routine 3-0 opening leg quarter-final clash with Galatasaray – leaving them suspended for a dead-rubber in Istanbul – criticism was widespread.

Wenger couldn’t resist a dig, and another ‘war of words’ ensued:

Wenger: “When you see how it looks on television it is the best demonstration to think: ‘Never do that again’. It looks, frankly, horrible. It’s a pity to see that from a big club.”

Mourinho: “Instead of speaking about Real Madrid, Mr Wenger should speak about Arsenal and explain how he lost 2-0 against a team in the Champions League for the first time. The history about the young kids is getting old now. Sagna, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Van Persie, Arshavin are not kids. They are all top players.”

That’s a dig…

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Mourinho is the master of the press conference battle, with his mind games and thinly veiled comments grabbing the headlines and putting pressure on opponents. Many managers have suffered as a result, and although the following is extremely disrespectful to one of the finest coaches in the history of the Premier League, it is quite funny.

When commenting ahead of Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge of the Gunners, against Chelsea, Mourinho said:

“I admire him and I admire Arsenal, because it’s not possible to have 1,000 matches unless the club is also a fantastic club in the way they support the manager, especially in the bad moments – and especially when the bad moments were quite a lot. So I admire the manager and I admire the club.”

And then his side battered their London rivals 6-0 at Stamford Bridge. Ouch.

Let’s get physical

Although it’s Mourinho who has come out on top more often than not, Wenger won this particular battle in 2014. Following a nasty challenge from Gary Cahill on Alexis Sanchez the Frenchman, justifiably, reacted angrily on the touchline, with his protestations taking him towards Mourinho… A shoving match followed before the two were separated, and although we cannot condone Wenger’s actions, he clearly came out on top, making Mourinho look like the schoolyard bully he often is.

After the event Arsene apologised, but Mourinho refused to rise above it all, calling for a stadium ban for his rival…

Wenger: “In hindsight I think I should not have reacted at all, It’s not a way to behave on a football field. Did Mourinho provoke me? That is how I felt. I did not enter Chelsea’s technical area.”

Mourinho: “Charged? If it was me it would have been a stadium ban.”

Specialist in failure

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Could there be any other winner? Again in 2014, Wenger and Mourinho clashed, bringing out one of the most memorable quotes in the history of English football from the Chelsea boss.

We’re sure you’ll all remember it, but just in case you cannot, here are the exchanges:

Wenger (In response to Mourinho’s suggestions that Chelsea were not title contenders): "It is fear to fail. It is very open, only Chelsea can lose it because they are in front and all the other teams can win it."

Mourinho: “Am I afraid of failure? He is a specialist in failure. I’m not. So if one supposes he’s right and I’m afraid of failure, it’s because I don’t fail many times. So maybe he’s right. I’m not used to failing. But the reality is he’s a specialist because, eight years without a piece of silverware, that’s failure.”