Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WENGER ‘I know you wanted to kill me.. but I am still here surviving’
ARSENE WENGER insists he is still standing despite the critics trying to “kill” him last season.
The Arsenal boss leads his club into battle against Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley tomorrow having defied calls for him to be axed.
Wenger, who signed a new twoyear deal in May, joked: “I am sorry I am still here! I can understand that you want to kill me but at the moment, I survive.”
The Gunners boss, set to play record £46.5million striker Alexandre Lacazette, also took aim at the fans who for years derided his view of a top-four place as a trophy.
Arsenal begin this season out of the
Champions League for the first time in over two decades at the club for Wenger.
But they upset the odds to sink Chelsea in the FA Cup Final two months ago.
He added: “When we qualified for the Champions League, people told me: ‘But you didn’t win a trophy.’ Now we won a trophy, and have not qualified for the Champions League, and it’s said: ‘Why are you not in the Champions League?’
“I want to focus on my job and do as well as I can and win absolutely every competition.”
Arsenal ended last season with 75 points – a total that would have been enough for Champions League football at the end of the previous two campaigns.
Wenger has now insisted he will take every game in the Europa League seriously but contradicted himself by admitting he will use the tournament to rest players whenever he can.
He went on: “I will always play a team that has a good
chance to win the next game. In the Europa League if we can afford sometimes to rest some players we will do it.
“But we have to adapt to the level of the competition and see first what kind of group we play in.”
Wenger says the lack of Champions League football means he can focus more fully on the Premier League and has warned Antonio Conte his defending champions will not find it as easy as they did last season.
He added: “Last year Chelsea did not play in the European Cup and they were a bit more consistent in the league.
“Overall in the final we have shown that the gap was not as big maybe. We have to show that again tomorrow.
“Also, we finished with 75 points, what was four more than the year before, when we finished second in the league. So it looks like Chelsea has taken advantage of the fact all the other teams were less consistent.
“You could expect some teams will be stronger and take points from them.”