Arsène Wenger has thanked people for their concern over his job security, as he responded to the avalanche of criticism that has followed Arsenal’s 3-2 Premier League defeat at Manchester United on Sunday with humour and a sense of perspective.
The manager sought to look ahead to Wednesday night’s visit from Swansea City, when his team will attempt to close the gap on the leaders, Leicester City. But the shadow of the United loss loomed large, and it is one that has taken on a monstrous shape in light of the outpouring on social media from frustrated fans.
Some of them are so cheesed off at the repetition of the same old failings that they want to start again without Wenger and some of his players, with the forward, Theo Walcott, being the current scapegoat. But Wenger, himself, has seen it all before, too, and he stressed the need, once again, for unity.
“We have built this club, and it has been built before me, with values,” Wenger said. “What we try to do is respect these values and when we are disappointed, we need to show these values and clarity to fight together. Everybody has freedom of opinion and I enjoy very much that people care about my future. I thank them for that. Apart from that, in my life, I always taken care of myself and my future.
“What you want from your fans is to fight together until the last game of the season. The league is very tight, everybody can drop points, and the teams - and the fans - who can show togetherness and solidarity until the end, might come out of it in a positive way. That’s what we want – not to give up when you have a bad game or a bad result.”
Wenger’s reaction to the mutiny and fury mixed incredulity with resignation – although not the sort of resignation that his critics would like to see. After all these years, with the most recent ones being the most intense and prone to flare-ups, Wenger has developed the thickest of skins.
“You wonder sometimes about the excessive reactions,” Wenger said. “Do people think football is only winning, and never losing any more games? It’s part of football. What makes me angry is to lose the game. The reaction – I know now what to expect.
“When you always have the same, you don’t give too much importance to that. My job is to give importance to what is important and I think, in general, intelligence is to give importance to what is important. I know that, by experience, your opinions change.
“We live in a society where the excess is permanent but when the excess is permanent, it becomes ineffective. You become immune to it. In life, you have to focus on what can influence your life. People have opinions, but it’s only opinions. They are like the weather forecast. Let’s not go overboard. We do not play to be relegated. We are playing to fight for the title. That’s why we have to put criticism in the right place.”
Wenger’s hunt for perspective took him over some familiar ground. He asked which Premier League team had always been in the top-four during his 19-and-a-half year tenure (answers on a postcard, please) while he made the point, which has regularly come to feel lost, that “football is a pleasure.”
Did he still feel that way about his job? “Of course,” he replied. “It’s a pleasure. What’s happening on the pitch is fantastic, in every single game. My job is a pleasure. Do you think I would do it if I didn’t think that? I’m masochistic, but not too much. For me, the job itself is as pleasurable as ever. I’m maybe lucky as I don’t go on Twitter!”
Wenger’s team is always lambasted for a lack of leaders and mental fortitude when they lose but he continues to see it differently. “In a collective psyche, you always think you need a saviour when you have a bad result,” Wenger said.
“We have won big games this season, many big games, with exactly the same players. I don’t feel that I lack leaders. Who are the leaders? The team. In every position. The players lead and we try to develop that with our work. Our job is to have a leader in every position.”
Wenger suggested that he might make a few changes against Swansea, and he name-checked Danny Welbeck, who has only just returned from a long-term knee injury, as one player from the starting line-up at United who he would have to assess.
“It’s possible I will make changes,” Wenger said. “Some players are still not out of it. I will have to see if I have to be cautious with Welbeck or not. Medically, I need advice on that and I will see.”
Wenger confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would be out for :six to eight weeks” with the knee ligament injured that he suffered against Barcelona in the Champions League last Tuesday. “There will be no surgery,” Wenger added. “We feared surgery at some stage before we saw the MRI. In the end, we got, on that front, positive news.”
