By DAN KING
ARSENE WENGER has given a rare glimpse into his soul after the latest outbreak of dissent from Arsenal fans.
Wenger’s first reaction to chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ towards the end of the Gunners goalless draw at Aston Villa last Saturday was fury.
Anyone who questioned him, he raged, was losing their marbles, forgetting everything he had achieved in 16 years with the club.
After a few days of reflection, Wenger’s mood has changed.
And although he denies being wounded by his critics, there was hurt as well as defiance in his passionate defence of the past and upbeat vision of the future.
He says those Gooners who think he is losing his touch are a noisy minority of extremists.
All that really matters to him is being able to look himself in the mirror and feel he has done his best with the squad at his disposal.
And Wenger insists he was just as able to do that at the end of last season — Arsenal’s seventh without a trophy — as he was when his Invincibles went the whole of the 2003-04 Premier League campaign unbeaten.
With a steely glint in his eye, the Gunners manager said: “Extreme opinions are picked and sold like a majority — which is not always the case.
“That means those who shout the loudest are usually presented because they are interesting and easy to sell.
“That some fans are not happy when you play 0-0 at Aston Villa I can understand because I am not happy.
“I want to win the game as well.
“But I do not share the fact that always the minority is presented like everyone thinks like them. Are the majority of the fans still with me? I don’t know. I am not worried about me. I can only give my best and let people judge.
“My desire is to make my fans happy and to share the football I love with them. But if it doesn’t happen I am not happy.
“My job is to give my full commitment to this club with integrity. And that’s what I always do without expecting any return.
“Who would not hope for support? But at the end of the season I want to stand in front of my mirror and think, ‘Could you have done more?’ I would like to see that. That’s all.”
Achieving third place last season was as much as could have been expected of him with the squad he had Wenger says.
When looking in that mirror, the man staring back was just as confident that he had done his best as he was at the end of that historic 2003-04 season.
Which says something about Arsenal’s changing ambitions since wealthy benefactors at Chelsea and then Manchester City changed the football landscape.
Wenger, whose team face a tricky trip to Everton tonight, said: “For example, at the end of last season we finished third.
“Honestly I don’t think there was much more in the team than finishing third.
“My pride comes from that as well. That’s my target at the end of the season to say ‘OK’.
“Like when we won the Premier League with zero defeats which nobody else has done you can think there is not much room to do much better.
“My job is to get the best out of my team with the potential we have. If I get to the feeling, at the end of the season, that this team…”
Wenger declined to complete that sentence. The clear implication is that he expects more from his current squad.
That he may well — finally — spend heavily next summer with the help of the Gunners’ improved shirt and stadium sponsorship deal with Emirates. But that will not necessarily mean lots of big-money transfers.
The Frenchman confirmed at least some of the extra money would be used to prevent star players like Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie being sold to make Arsenal’s accounts look healthy or because other clubs offer much bigger salaries.
Tonight’s opposing manager, David Moyes, is often praised for keeping Everton competitive on a shoestring budget.
And Wenger said: “Of course I admire him but I can show you our balance over the last 16 years and you would be astonished.
“People forget we built a new stadium. We had to go through limited resources and maintained the club at the top and that we didn’t have the money available.
“I accepted to stay and to do that. We are now going towards a period where we will be able to compete again financially with other clubs.
“We know that. And we knew that would happen. So let’s hope we can show that in the future.”
But Wenger admits Arsenal will always struggle to compete with the likes of Paris St Germain, the French club bank-rolled by the same Qatari royal family who have made their mark on London.
The Arsenal boss said: “PSG have unlimited resources. If they decide to go to £100million, they do it.
“If they decide to go to £150m, they do it. They have a building called The Shard that cost £1bn, that was built by Qatar. They have unlimited resources. I cannot promise we will match them.
“Is it more about keeping players we have? Yes, of course.”
But how do his players feel about what happened at Villa Park?
Wenger said: “The players are like me. They give their best to play well. We don’t give too much importance to those fans’ reaction.
“Our job is to give our best on the pitch. The rest? If you have any emotional reaction you have nothing to do in our job.”
However Wenger would not be human if he did not feel a little hurt.
