Arsene Wenger launches impassioned defence of his Arsenal job to stress it's a case of back to business for the Gunners
It's been a turbulent week for the club, with talk of the Frenchman's exit reaching new heights, but the Arsenal manager has insisted he remains 'motivated' and 'ready to give his best'
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Your support makes all the difference.It was just 24 hours after Arsenal’s capitulation at the Emirates, and the humiliating Champions League exit that came with it, that Luis Enrique’s Barcelona defied the history books to overturn a four-goal deficit and book their place in the last eight of Europe’s elite competition.
It was a stunning spectacle, underpinned by grit, desire and tenacity, and one that bore testament to the regenerative qualities that team spirit and belief can bring to a side seemingly on the edge of implosion. In the face of adversity, Barcelona rolled up their sleeves and got the job done.
“Apotheosis,” Spanish sports paper Marca declared the next day - a fitting headline for a side whose already godlike status was taken to new divine heights under the floodlights of the Nou Camp.
Arsenal, in contrast, were plunged to dark new depths.
Losing 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich the day before, the Gunners became the first English club in the history of the competition to succumb to an eight-goal deficit over two legs. It marked yet another turn of the vicious wheel that has left Arsenal paralysed for more than a decade now.
But speaking on Friday ahead of his side’s FA Cup sixth-round tie with Lincoln, it was back to business for Arsene Wenger.
Never before has his position seemed so perilous during his 21 long years of service, but the Frenchman struck a positive note in his weekly press conference as he launched an impassioned defence of his Arsenal job.
“[I] feel very strong, very motivated, ready to give my best,” he declared. “It just sums it up that two weeks ago he [Luis Enrique] was an idiot and everyone said you have to leave, so he said, 'okay, I go.'
“Today he is a hero. That sums up the job. In fact I made an equation because I am a mathematical fan that I will give you one day.”
What the nature of this ‘equation’ is, Wenger refused to say - “It's not the right moment. I am sure you will enjoy it. It is an equation about a manager's job.” - but despite the discord that has threatened to pull the club apart in recent days, the Arsenal boss remains as focused as ever on the road ahead.
Indeed, as he admits himself, it’s the love of the game that continues to drive him forward – even in the face of scathing criticism. “The love for the game, the passion for football, the passion for the club, the love of the uncertainly [drives me on]. You have to be a little bit of a gambler.” Those 200-odd fans who turned out to protest against his reign on Tuesday night would argue otherwise, but there’s no denying Wenger remains defiant.
But wherever or not such defiance can bring the Gunners anymore success beyond another FA Cup title is the question now on every Arsenal fan’s lips. Although club chairman Sir Chips Keswick has acknowledged the discontent of some supports, he made it clear on Thursday morning that a knee-jerk decision on Wenger’s future would not be made. The Frenchman himself has conceded that the supporters’ views will be a consideration for his future – but “not the most important factor”.
"It will not be the most important factor but of course, you consider it,” he said.
"It is difficult for me to judge (the protest). I have worked very hard for 20 years to make our fans happy and when you lose the games, I understand they are not happy.
"I do not want to judge that, I am not able to. I live in my daily work with my complete commitment.
"Look, I don't work for my image, I work for this club with full commitment.
"I think I've shown since I'm here that first of all I love this club, that I'm loyal to this club and that I make the right decisions for this club. I will continue to do that. Of course, in respecting the values that I think are vital for me. If I cannot do that, I will not be here."
But under mounting pressure from the fans, there’s only so long Wenger can continue to swim against the rising tide and the inevitable outcome it brings. Until that moment comes, it’s heads down, eyes forward. "My own gut feeling at the moment is: shut up and prepare for the next game.”
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