Jose Mourinho played the victim card after another handshake fiasco between the Chelsea manager and Arsene Wenger following Arsenal's 1-0 win in the Community Shield at Wembley.
Both managers failed to shake hands right after the 90 minutes of the Premier League curtain-raiser, which was won by Arsenal courtesy a delightful Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain goal, and that trend continued following the trophy presentation as well.
Mourinho stood below the steps – knowing fully well the cameras were right there -- waiting for the Arsenal players to come down the steps after the trophy presentation, gave each of them a handshake – a few hugs were in there as well – but when it came to Wenger, there was a bit of an about turn, with the Frenchman also showing absolutely no inclination towards shaking the Chelsea manager's hand.
That would have been fine, as everyone knows the difficult relationship that exists between the two, but then eyebrows were naturally raised as Mourinho criticised Wenger for the snub, saying he was standing there waiting to congratulate the entire winning team, which includes the Arsenal manager one would imagine.
"I was doing what the status of my club and my status as a manager I think I have to do for myself and the club which is to be there for the winners, to wait for them in a point that you only miss me if you want to miss me," Mourinho said.
"Every Arsenal player came in my direction which was the easiest thing to do because I was just there and if other people didn't come in my direction that is not a problem, not a story and not the end of the world and I gave no more problem on that.
"I did my job, the job that my club deserves me to do and the status as a manager when I lose a charity shield or any trophy."
Those comments would have been fine had it come from a Manuel Pellegrini or a Carlo Ancelotti, the gentlemen of the managers club. But then, Mourinho is far from the "I do everything the right way and I adhere to the codes" manager is he.
The "specialist in failure" jibe – not to forget the voyeur comment as well in Mourinho's first stint at Chelsea -- aimed at Wenger, who beat his counterpart for the first time in 14 attempts, is not something someone who is inclined towards doing "what the status of my club and my status as a manager I think I have to do for myself and the club" does.
Plain and simple, Mourinho paints the picture that suits him, and there is little doubt that the manager can be hypocritical at times. For instance, there can be no justification for the comments he made about Rafa Benitez's weight and the fact that his wife should be taking care of it, and then come out and say he always does the right thing.
Most managers are hypocritical at one point or the other to be honest, including Wenger. The decision to completely snub a handshake from Mourinho was also a little childish from the Arsenal manager, and something that could have been avoided, irrespective of how bad the jibes from the Chelsea manager might have been in the past.
Bury the hatchet and move on with a new season lying in wait should have been both the managers' motto; but, instead the feud continues, and as much as Mourinho might want to paint himself as the man who has been wronged, surely nobody should be buying it.
