We are united and will prove the critics wrong, says Arsenal boss

 
James Olley14 December 2012

Arsene Wenger today insisted there is no rift in the Arsenal camp and claims he has the experience to rescue their season after suffering humiliation at Bradford.

Assistant manager Steve Bould is understood to have become frustrated with Wenger over his reluctance to change first-team training sessions amid a poor run of that reached a nadir in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup quarter-final shock.

Wenger’s position has also been questioned as the prospect of an eighth season without silverware moves closer after a chastening defeat in West Yorkshire. The Gunners are also faltering in seventh place in the Premier League but the Frenchman came out fighting at the club’s London Colney training base this morning.

“We are a united staff team,” he said. “Unfortunately, you cannot control all the lies that are written in the newspapers. I believe it’s a good opportunity to show that we are strong inside the club and let people talk.

“We are criticised when our results are not good — we have to take that on the chin. That we have to face a lot of lies is less acceptable.

“We are top professional people. What is important is what happens tomorrow, not what happened yesterday. We’re sorry for that [Bradford] but what is important is the next game.

“My job is to be determined and give importance to what is important. What is important is I love football, I love this club and I give my best for this club. The rest, I cannot interfere with that. Believe me, I am highly focused on doing that and all the rest, that doesn’t interfere with my thinking at all. I am very determined and very hungry and if I wouldn’t be, I wouldn’t sit in front of you.

“I can understand people criticise when the results are not as expected. It looks like it has become the modern way to think. You say that 16 years [at Arsenal] can be a handicap but it can also be an advantage because you have experience, you love the club.”

Arsenal’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke also came under attack from honorary vice president and former director Lady Bracewell-Smith, who claimed the American “has no passion” for the club.

Wenger revealed he has not spoken with Kroenke this week but rejected the idea that he should be more vocal in times of difficulty and insists that as manager, he is happy to take all the criticism.

“I am here for taking flak, and you do that very well,” said Wenger. “I think the direction of the club is fixed by me on the football front and when the football doesn’t work, you can’t expect Stan Kroenke to intervene. It is my job to do that.

“I believe I have a strong team. If you look at our season at the moment, we have not produced our performances at home, away our results are in the same bracket as the two top teams.Where we have lost points is with too many draws at home. Manchester United are top of the League by six points. They have lost three games, we have lost four. We had more draws, especially at home, that is where we have lost the points.

“This team care, are serious and want to do well, I do not question the spirit of the team.”

Wenger is preparing his team for Monday’s trip to strugglers Reading and is set to welcome back Olivier ­Giroud after the striker suffered a back injury while Laurent Koscielny trained for the first time today since suffering a thigh problem.

But Abou Diaby was ruled out until the New Year with a thigh injury and Wenger said: “It is slow progress. I cannot give you any fixed date because we are a bit in no man’s land on that front. He is working but he is not ready to come back yet.”

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