Arsene Wenger was once again asked about his future at the club in his press conference on Monday ahead of the Bayern Munich game.
The Arsenal manager stressed his focus is fully on the Champions League last 16 second leg, but had this to say:
on whether all the players want him to manage Arsenal next season…
Honestly, I don’t think it’s down to the players to choose a manager. Your questions are not adjusted to the press conference when preparing for a game. The players have to perform and Per has just said that. The board chooses the manager. If I ask you, ‘Is everybody in your company behind you?’, I promise you I will find someone at Sky who is not happy with you and would like to be in your position. It’s your bosses who choose whether you’re here or not. I can understand that I am criticised after these results, but it’s not down to the players to choose the manager. The players have to perform for this football club. I think we are at the best club in the world, and we have to show pride and commitment to defend the pride of this club. It’s not about the politics. We are not at a political club here, we are judged on performance. I have to perform and the players have to perform.
on what goes wrong at this stage of the season…
First of all, it’s always a very difficult period because you play in the last 16 of the Champions League. In the last four or five years, we have always played against Barcelona or Bayern Munich. We’ve played four times against Bayern Munich who are the best or second-best team in Europe. It’s always a difficult period. If you look at the recent years, we have also done very well from March until May.
on why he hasn’t signed contract extension yet…
I haven’t come to a decision yet. I’ll wait a bit and see how the season finishes here. I’ve been here or 20 years and think I’ve built the club up. It’s important for me that we’re always successful and that’s why I’ve given myself a bit of time.
on when the decision will be made…
I don’t know.
on if he could imagine managing another team…
At the moment, my concentration is on the Bayern Munich game, so it’s very difficult for me to talk about it at the moment.
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