Wenger pleads for patience

Arsene Wenger has pleaded with Arsenal fans to ‘keep the faith’ despite the Gunners’ recent run of poor results.

Arsenal have lost four of their last seven matches in all competitions, including a devastating 3-2 loss to bitter rivals Tottenham, although they did manage to respond with a 4-2 Premier League win away at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Wenger’s side also lost their second consecutive Champions League match after going down 2-0 to Braga last week, but the Frenchman believes there are signs that the team will quickly turn things around.

“I have no major reason to doubt the team and the players, so even if my disappointment was huge, maybe that is why I am less down than many people because I see all the positive signs which are in my team,” Wenger said.

“I am confident on the longer-term, like it is a marathon, that will all come out – keep with us, and keep faith with the team.”

“I know their attitude is spot on, I know they have the quality – and we will not always lose games where the opponent only has one shot on goal.”

Wenger also blamed a heavy workload for the Gunners’ slump, after the team played 10 matches in the last five weeks.

“For over two months we have played every three days, and part of that is sometimes you have ups and downs. It is how you respond to that,” said Wenger.

“The problem at the moment is that when these kind of things happen, everybody is emphasising the negative sides. I am still quite optimistic, even if disappointed by the results.”