Former Gunner Charlie Nicholas admits that while Jose Mourinho’s defensive style of football is effective, he would never have the Manchester United boss at Arsenal.

Nicholas believes that defending in the Premier League is getting harder and getting it right is an art form. Jose Mourinho appears to have almost perfected it but the ex-Arsenal man insists he would never want the United boss in charge of his former club.

“The hardest thing is defending. It’s a skill, it’s an art, it’s getting harder and harder,” Nicholas said.

“We’re seeing less and less talent because it’s harder to get your physical challenges in because it’s got a little bit too soft. It’s all about protection of players.

“In the old days, I used to shinpad in my calves because that’s what you had to be put up with.

“The reality is the game has moved on – the pace, the movement, the lack of physical contact is all there.

“Put it this way, if I could have a bit of Jose Mourinho put into the Arsenal set-up, I would be a very, very happy man.

“But I don’t like the style and I don’t want to see Mourinho at Arsenal.”

Mourinho parked the bus against Liverpool at the weekend, keeping the scoreline at 0-0. He’s basically the anti-Wenger. However, pretty football doesn’t win you titles anymore if you’re failing to keep out goals at the other end. And it’s debatable whether you would even call Arsenal’s football attractive anymore since no one appears to be able to pass.

Ideally, you would want a balance as that’s how you win leagues. That, and consistency. Scoring a couple of goals and then keeping the other team out. You don’t need to be scoring four or more goals if you’re preventing the opposition from finding the back of the net. It’s risk assessment and damage limitation, which is what Jose’s good at.

Unfortunately for the Gunners, we don’t look particularly strong anywhere on the pitch at the moment.

I still agree with Nicholas though. I would never have Jose at Arsenal.