Wenger: I can turn things around at Arsenal
Arsene Wenger backed himself to "turn things around" at Arsenal despite a defeat that leaves the club closer to Burnley, which is positioned seventh, than fifth-placed Chelsea in the Premier League.
Sunday's humbling 2-1 reverse at Brighton & Hove Albion marked the Gunners' fourth consecutive loss across all competitions, and kept Wenger's team 13 points below the coveted top four with nine matches remaining.
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"Yes it's the first time it happens in my whole career (losing so many games), I must say. It's not easy. But I have enough experience and enough desire to turn things around," Wenger told Sky Sports' Stephen Mills. "And I must say that, at the moment, when you need to stay in the game we are making a few mistakes at the wrong moments.
"We have to stick together and focus. We have no other solution."
A portion of Arsenal's support would argue there's a simple solution: firing Wenger. Banners calling for the veteran's head were out in force in the away end, and the Brighton faithful chided the Frenchman by singing "you're getting sacked in the morning." Although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang halved the deficit near the end of the opening half, the damage was already done after Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray's goals against a lacklustre Arsenal side.
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The only realistic chance of Champions League qualification appears to be via winning the Europa League, but there's a long way to go in that tournament. The north London club will first have to overcome in-form AC Milan in the round of 16, with the first leg kicking off at San Siro on Thursday.
"You focus on your job. These are always the questions you get when you are in the situation we are in," Wenger continued.
"You do your job and you do the right thing and the things you think are right for the team and that's it."
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Wenger confessed that it's "very difficult to think" that surmounting the 13-point gap behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur is possible. With that aim slipping away, the 68-year-old will try to consolidate Arsenal's place in the Europa League spots after straight defeats to Swedish minnow Ostersunds FK, Manchester City twice, and now Brighton.