Wenger warns Mourinho of perils ahead

No sooner had Chelsea won the Premiership then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was telling rival boss Jose Mourinho that the greater challenge of a successful title defence had still to come.

No sooner had Chelsea won the Premiership then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was telling rival boss Jose Mourinho that the greater challenge of a successful title defence had still to come.

The Blues 2-0 win away to Bolton on Saturday left them an unbridgeable 14 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, the reigning champions, with the Premiership trophy now set to cross from north to west London.

"This season, everything is new for them. But next season they will be expected to do exactly the same," warned Wenger.

"If they do just a little bit less, then everyone will slaughter them. That's what happened to us. So it will be more difficult. It's always more difficult to stay up there and come back next year and do it again."

Wenger, whose side face relegation-threatened West Brom on Monday, has won the title three times with Arsenal - in 1998, 2002 and 2004 - but has yet to mount a successful defence.

Indeed, only Manchester United have won back-to-back titles since the Premiership started in 1992.

Chelsea, who have already won the League Cup this season, will take another step closer to marking their Portuguese chief's first term in charge with a trophy treble if they beat Liverpool in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday with the tie still all square at 0-0.

"You have to respect what Chelsea have done. They are there in the Champions League and the Premier League," Wenger said.

"They have a way that is efficient. They have scored many goals and they haven't conceded many, so that is a perfect balance and I respect it.

"I give them a lot of credit. I don't have anything against what has happened on the pitch. They have done remarkably well.

"They have maybe compensated a little less fluency with a bit more defensive caution and more commitment in some aspects of their game, but what they have makes their team good and strong.

"I feel we've come back very close to them and are capable of competing but in November, December and January, we dropped too many points when they didn't.

"Our defensive aspect was too weak to win the League or the European Cup, but we are stronger now."