Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted that he will continue to serve the club with “commitment” and “integrity” despite facing heavy criticism from some supporters this week.
The Gunners made it through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup yesterday with a victory over Lincoln City, but, as was also the case before the midweek Champions League exit against Bayern Munich, a section of fans protested against Wenger, demanding that the Frenchman shouldn’t receive a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of the campaign.
Wenger, though, has played down the size of the protests, claiming that only 100 people are opposed to him staying in charge.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Wenger said: “I serve this club with commitment and integrity and loyalty as long as I am here. It’s a shame I cannot keep everybody happy but we are now in the semi-finals again in the FA Cup, if you count how many times I’ve been in there with the club it’s not too bad.
“I just want the draw – there is no like or not like – you have to accept the draw you get and that’s what we will do.
“I accept all that (the criticism). In life you can only do one thing – to give your best and accept the judgement of people. I always did that in my whole life and I’m not afraid of that. I can go back everywhere I worked because I always worked with the same commitment everywhere, that is what I’ll do until the last day I’m here.
“Apart from that, personally I prefer to have everybody happy but when you have 60,000 people in the stadium and 100 are not happy, people speak only about the 100, so you have to take that with a bit of perspective as well.”
Wenger enjoyed much success in the early part of his Arsenal tenure but, despite winning the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015, he has been the criticism of some scathing remarks from fans who are hugely frustrated with the club’s lack of recent glories in the Premier League and their continued disappointments in Europe.
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