Arsene Wenger tells Arsenal fans: Sorry I'm still here, I understand some want to KILL me

Posted Saturday, August 05, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Arsene Wenger tells Arsenal fans: Sorry I'm still here, I understand some want to KILL me
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger renewed his contract

HE thinks people still want to kill him and has apologised for still being the Arsenal manager – but Arsene Wenger believes 10 points more than they earned last year can win them the title.

The Gunners notched 75 points last season – normally more than enough to clinch a top four place – but not last term, leaving them fifth and without Champions League football for the first time in 20 years.

But as his team prepared to face Premier League champions Chelsea in tomorrow's Community Shield game, the Frenchman hit out at the critics who have suggested he needs a major improvement this year to keep his job at the Emirates.

Arsenal's inconsistent league campaign, which saw fans calling for Wenger's head at several stages as he came under major pressure last year, saw them finish 18 points behind Chelsea.

There was speculation the Frenchman could walk away this summer but Wenger's team recovered to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final in May, after which he signed a new two-year contract.

And last night he said: "We won the FA Cup and made 75 points. We are of course not happy with that – but some teams made worse. When we qualified for the Champions League, people told me, 'But you didn't win a trophy'.

"Now we won a trophy and didn't qualify for the Champions League and they said to me, 'Why are you not in the Champions League?' That's normal to live with but I want to focus on my job and do as well as I can and win absolutely every competition.

"I'm sorry I am still here! I can understand that people want to kill me – but at the moment, I survive.

"Last year Chelsea did not play in the European Cup and were more consistent in the League. But in the cup final we showed that the gap was maybe not as high. We have to show that again tomorrow.

"We made 75 points, what was four more than the year before, when we finished second. When you have made 75 points, your target is to get 10 points more. And with 10 points more, you are in there.

"It was always hard to get into the top four. It's difficult to predict what number of points will get you in this season. Maybe with 67, you are in there. You don't know.

"Last year was new. The first time that 75 points didn't get you in the Champions League."

Arsenal will give late fitness tests to midfielders Mesut Ozil, who has an ankle problem, and Aaron Ramsey, who has a muscular problem, before naming his team for Wembley. Alexis Sanchez, who only returned to training on Tuesday after a bout of flu, is unlikely to start but could be on the bench.

The two teams met only three weeks ago in a tour match in Beijing, when Chelsea won 3-0 and Wenger is adamant that Antonio Conte's team will be title contenders again.

"Chelsea took advantage of the fact that all the other teams were less consistent last year," said Wenger. "I expect them to fight for the championship again. Will they make as many points? I don't know. But they will fight certainly for the championship.

"But you can expect that other teams will be stronger as well and take points from them."

Wenger, whose team will be competing in the Europa League, has insisted he will take the competition seriously but believes it is wrong to use it as a route back into the Champions League.

"I will always play a team that has a good chance to win the next game," he said. "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.

"You cannot go into the season and think of the Europa League as a route back into the Champions League. I was never in favour of that.

"At some stage it can influence the championship, because if a team in April in a position where they have more chance to win the Europa League they can let some games go in the championship and not completely focus on it.

"I was always against it. Apart from Manchester United, all the years before it was always a team who was kicked out of the Champions League that won the Europa League."