Wenger Unfazed By Fan Criticism

Arsene Wenger has said that he can take criticism from his own fans as the club heads into the business end of the 2011/12 season.

Last weekend, Arsenal once again lost to bitter rivals Manchester United by a scoreline of 2-1, which was their third consecutive league defeat. Wenger infamously substituted impressive Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with severely out-of-form Andrey Arshavin in the second half of the match.

That replacement did not go down well with the Gunners fans, who did not hold back in voicing their disapproval even though Oxlade-Chamberlain was carrying a minor calf injury. Chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” were clearly heard at the Emirates, with the target being none other than their legendary manager.

Ahead of their Sunday’s FA Cup home clash with Aston Villa, Wenger said that it is normal for the fans to criticise his judgement but he won’t let it affect the way he manages his team.

When asked to disclose his thoughts about the growing criticism being directed towards him by a large part of the Gunners faithful, Wenger replied, “I can live with that. I do not think about the fans’ reaction, I think about how we can win our games. I will live forever by the values I think are right in football. One or two lost games, or one or two bad reactions will not change that.

“I always believe the fans’ reaction depends on us. It is the team which has to get the fans behind them, and the fans have to be proud of the team. The vibes have to come from us. What was disappointing for me was that we produced a bad performance in the first half (against United), but a decent performance in the second half and should have won. We did not deserve to lose. The team did not get the credit it deserved for the performance in the second half.”

With their latest defeat, Arsenal are now five points behind their London rivals Chelsea, who occupy the last Champions League spot at the moment. But in spite of this substantial gap, Wenger is confident that they can still find a place among the top four at the end of the season and he recently set up a group meeting with his players to instil the same belief in them.

“The most important thing is that the player believes he is good and strong and that the manager believes in his players. I am convinced yes, but no matter who you are, if you lose one or two games your belief drops a little bit. It does not make you a bad player, you are still a great player, it was just a disappointing performance. That is a big difference between who you really are and what your last performance told you. I believe 100% in this team, we will see where we stand at the end of the season,” the Frenchman said.

While dethroning Chelsea from the fourth spot certainly is their most important target, Wenger now expects his troops to give their undivided attention to their Sunday’s FA Cup match against Aston Villa, as the domestic cup competition is their most realistic target of ending their almost seven-year long trophy drought.

“If you look at Villa’s team sheet they are a very good side, they can produce good results, especially away from home, because they are dangerous on counter-attacks,” Wenger said about their next opponents.