Arsene Wenger revealed he has not ruled out extending his Arsenal reign after his side eased the pressure on their troubled manager with a 5-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over minnows Lincoln City on Saturday.
Wenger has faced calls for his resignation from angry Arsenal fans this week and there were more protests against the beleaguered Frenchman before the clash at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal’s comfortable progress to next month’s Wembley semi-finals kept the critics off Wenger’s back, days after they gave him a torrid time following Tuesday last week’s UEFA Champions League humiliation against Bayern Munich.
Photo: Reuters
The Gunners boss, who has yet to confirm if he will extend his contract when it runs out at the end of this season, claimed it was his preference to remain in charge of the Premier League club, but he declined to say how much longer that would be for.
“Let’s not talk about me too much because that has happened a lot recently. I have shown in my life that I try to serve this club with complete commitment and I will do that as long as I am here,” Wenger said.
“How long? I don’t know at the moment,” he said. “I have shown a lot of loyalty and my preference is here. I focus on my job. I always do that. I let other people judge my performances. People talk and talk and talk, it doesn’t mean they talk truth.”
Wenger said that selecting a first-choice lineup for Saturday’s game gave his players back their belief after the Champions League trauma.
“We were a bit nervous today because confidence drops when you don’t have a result. The team was unjustly criticized after our last game against Bayern,” the Frenchman said.
“I didn’t want to gamble today. I knew it was very important to win and I wanted to give the team the chance to get their confidence back by winning the next game,” Wenger said.
Lincoln’s own tilt at glory did not evaporate with the defeat.
Five points clear of their rivals at the top of the National League, they face an FA Trophy semi-final first leg tomorrow in the more austere surroundings of York City’s Bootham Crescent.
For young Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley, the lessons learned at Arsenal will be invaluable.
“We have to take a lot from our first-half performance. We restricted Arsenal to limited chances in that first 45 minutes and had a good one of our own. Unfortunately, in the second half you saw what world-class players can do when they are confident,” Cowley said.
“It felt like Arsene Wenger brought 15 players on to the pitch in the second half and also that big clock definitely stopped at some stages in the second half because that was one hell of a long 45 minutes for us,” he said.
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