José Mourinho: I would not endure winless run against me like Wenger

I would want to try to find solutions to help my team to do it’ 
• Arsenal manager seeks first win against Chelsea rival

José Mourinho has suggested he would drive himself to distraction in the search for a solution if he experienced a winless run such as that which Arsène Wenger has endured against him. The Chelsea manager had another, related suggestion: it would never happen to him.

Sunday’s Community Shield pits Mourinho against Wenger for the 14th time and it is a remarkable statistic that Wenger continues to seek a victory over the man with whom he has such a difficult relationship. Mourinho’s hold over the Frenchman and Arsenal has sometimes seemed total.

“I think I would ask myself: Why?” Mourinho said when asked how he would react if the boot were on the other foot. “I would try to answer, not because of a mental block but because I would want to try to find solutions to help my team to do it – try to find a different way, try to find the reasons why it goes all the time against my team.”

Mourinho’s intolerance of defeat is a well-known part of his makeup and there were two moments during his pre-match press briefing on Friday that stood out – one humorous; the other accompanied by one of the Portuguese’s trademark icy stares.

It was put to Mourinho that he had, presumably, never been on the wrong end of a prolonged winless sequence against a rival. “No,” he replied. “I think I lost twice against Toni.” His audience began to rack their brains for the Latin maestro who had got the better of him. “I lost against Crystal Palace and against West Brom,” he continued. Ah, Tony Pulis.

Mourinho has fallen to Pulis teams at his previous two attempts – Chelsea lost 1-0 at Palace in March 2014 and 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion at the end of last season. That hardly constitutes a sequence, however, and the obvious suspicion is that this was Mourinho’s point.

The Chelsea manager went on to discuss how he sought to instil the winning mentality in his players and he gave an example. “In competitive situations in training, if one team is winning by three goals, finish,” he said.

“It means that the ones that are losing are not training well, so if you don’t train well, you don’t train. I did that once in Canada [during the pre-season tour]. I ended the training.”

Mourinho sounded keen not to attach too much importance to the result againstArsenal this weekend. He described the Community Shield as being somewhere between a pre-season friendly and a Premier League fixture and he cautioned against it being treated as a portent for the season.

“Arsenal won the Community Shield last season against the champions Manchester City and they finished third,” he said. “I don’t think it has a relation to the rest of the season.”

Mourinho’s principal selection decision involves Diego Costa. The striker felt a pain in a hamstring during themidweek friendly against Barcelona in Washington and the Spain international was taken off immediately. The squad flew back to London on Wednesday and transatlantic flights are rarely synonymous with optimising recovery from injury. Costa, however, knows his body and the 26-year-old has said it was nothing serious while Mourinho insisted that last season’s top scorer was fit and available.

Chelsea have been relatively quiet in the summer transfer market, certainly compared with their rivals, but Mourinho said the club were trying to sign a left-back following the sale of Filipe Luís back to Atlético Madrid. Baba Rahman, the 21-year-old from Augsburg in Germany, is the prime target, with his agent confirming that the Premier League champions have submitted a bid of €25m (£17.5m).

“We are trying to sign a left-back,” confirmed Mourinho. “We have only one [César Azpilicueta]. We are trying.”

----------------------------------xxxxx---------------------------------------------

Zola: Qatar would be ideal for Balotelli, Cassano

As both players continue to be linked to Sampdoria, Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano have been told to look east for their next club.

Al Arabi coach Gianfranco Zola has urged controversial strikers Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano to move to the Middle East to jump-start their careers.

With Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero unwilling to play €10million to purchase Balotelli from Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers seemingly not interested in playing the 24-year-old after a poor first season at Anfield, the Italy international needs to find a new home.

Cassano, who has also been linked with Sampdoria, is a free agent after leaving Parma in January.

Zola, who took over at Qatar Stars League club Al Arabi on July 11, reckons a stint in the tiny West Asian kingdom could give Balotelli and Cassano a stress-free period to focus on football and regain confidence.

In an interview with Sky Sports Italia, Zola said: "They [Balotelli and Cassano] are two top players, and it could be an excellent opportunity for them to play in a league with less scrutiny, recharge their batteries, and return to Europe as protagonists."

But the former Italy international may struggle to sign either of his compatriots if they are interested, as Al Arabi already have seven foreign players on their books - the maximum allowed in the Stars League.

"We are crowded but if I had the opportunity [to sign them], I would not give it a second thought," Zola said.

---------------------------------------xxxx---------------------------------------------

Cech can match Van der Sar - Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes goalkeeper Petr Cech can help his team to Premier League glory.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech can emulate what Edwin van der Sar did for Manchester United, according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Cech, 33, joined Arsenal on a four-year deal from Chelsea in June in what could be a huge signing in the title race.

Wenger compared the move to that of former Netherlands international Van der Sar, who joined United as a 34-year-old and won four Premier League titles.

"His move is a bit like Van der Sar. He went from Fulham to Man United but still had five or six years at Manchester United, so I don’t see why he [Cech] shouldn't have a few more years," the Frenchman said ahead of Sunday's Community Shield clash against Chelsea.

"He's very serious, he trains well, has no big problems. He has an intimidating presence that is for sure. He makes the goals look small. That's the kind of charisma he has. He is a big size.

"He has a good combination between quality, agility, size, he looked like he was built for English football. I think he is a very bright goalkeeper as well."

Cech's move came years after Wenger wanted to buy the shot-stopper, having been alerted to his talents while the Czech was impressing at Rennes.

But Wenger said Chelsea had simply been too quick for their rivals.

"Before he went to Chelsea we were interested, as the guy who brought him to Chelsea is a good friend of mine," he said.

"One of the guys who was the agent and he told me there was an exceptional keeper at Rennes.

"He was very young when he went to Rennes. One of my assistants, Boro Primorac, his son was a player in Rennes and he said they had a very good goalkeeper. So we knew [but] I think Chelsea were a bit quicker than us."

----------------------------------------x-xxx-----------------------------------------

Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla sign new deals at Arsenal

It has been relatively quiet this summer at the Emirates, but today Arséne Wenger has successfully negotiated with the pair who have committed their futures to the North London club

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has finally signed on the dotted line, agreeing a new four-year deal which will see his wages jump from £90,000-a-week to an eye-watering £140,000-a-week. 

Joining the 26-year-old attacker is the charismatic Spanish midfielderSanti Cazorla who has signed a two-year extension, which will now end any speculation over his future, the creative midfield player has repetitively been linked with a move back to La Liga this summer. 

Arséne Wenger was clearly ecstatic with these deals, stating that "both are top quality" and are "hugely influential" to the side.

How important is Walcott to Arsenal?

The answer is very important, opinions may have started to wane with the arrival of Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez, but with Walcott showing his quality upon returning from injury last term, this season will be his most important yet. 

The former Southampton speed-merchant will be looking to make a successful transition from wide-right to striker, which is where he finished last campaign. His last two competitive matches saw him net four goals including a hat-trick against West Brom in the finalPremier League game of the 2014-15 season.

It took Walcott sometime to find his feet in an Arsenal shirt but now he is part of the furniture and is an integral part of The Gunners' ever-improving British core. 

Cazorla's creativity is integral to Arsenal's progression

It can not be underestimated how important the deal to keep Cazorla at the Emirates is, he surprised many last season with how combative he can be, his stand-out performance was arguably during the 2-0 win at the Etihad where he scored from the spot, working in tandem with Francis Coquelin, as Arsenal tirelessly wore down Manchester City away from home in an efficient, effective display.

Cazorla is seen as the old head in the Arsenal midfield, the versatile Spaniard has had a very productive pre-season, carrying on where he left off last term. The former Malaga midfielder is the creative link between the tough-tackling Coquelin and the pass-master that isMesut Özil.

This is another signal of intent, and if it wasn't already apparent - Arsenal have no problem in paying what is required to keep their best players, selling to rivals is seemingly now a thing of the past.