Arsene Wenger admits doubts over his future contributed to Arsenal's 'horrendous' psychological environment

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James Benge21 May 2017

Arsene Wenger has admitted that confusion over his future in recent months did have an impact on Arsenal's "horrendous" psychological environment.

The Gunners boss had long been insistent that his players had been capable of distancing speculation over whether he would extend his contract, which expires at the end of the season, but after seeing his side fall short of Champions League qualification admitted that the psychological atmosphere around London Colney had been “horrible” over recent months.

A 3-1 win over Everton was not enough for Arsenal as victories for Liverpool and Manchester City meant Wenger’s men had to settle for fifth place and the Europa League next season.

Nine league defeats this season, including six between January 31 and April 30, left the Gunners with too much ground to make up in the final weeks as they missed out on the top four for the first time in Wenger’s two decade reign.

“It’s very sad,” Wenger said of Arsenal’s failure to reach the top four. “For 75 points we were one point short. You can look everywhere to see where we dropped that.

“Overall I believe we played since January in a very difficult environment for different reasons. Some, obviously, you know about and that is very difficult for a group of players to cope with. Some others we will talk about another day.

“The psychological environment for the group of players was absolutely horrendous.

“’I’m very proud of what they have done. The way they responded and finished the season.”

Asked by Standard Sport why the environment had been so difficult Wenger admitted: “I don’t know.

“Certainly my personal situation has contributed to that.

“I am professional. As long as I’m somewhere I do my job until the last day. You could not question my love or loyalty to this club. I said no to every club in the world to stay here with very restricted finances for years.

“I don’t understand why my commitment is questioned.”

Wenger added: “You have been at the games. You cannot say the environment for the group of players was especially positive.

“Why wasn’t it sorted sooner? I don’t know. What is important is that we do our job. We are professional people. Part of being professional is performing when the environment is not positive.

“We shouldn’t look there as an excuse. I just say it’s a fact it doesn’t help.”

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The 67-year-old declined to comment on whether he had received any offers since first intimating after Arsenal’s first 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich that he might go elsewhere if he didn’t sign a new contract at Arsenal, saying only that he would “love this club until the last day of my life”.

“If I stop one day I will still work until the last day of the season. I left some other places when I was at the end of the contract and I still worked with the same commitment until the last day of my deal.

“We won seven of the last eight games despite the lack of clarity. We have just to focus to win the next one [the FA Cup Final against Chelsea].

“When did it affect the team? I cannot give you the answer today. One day.”

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