In the aftermath of two crushing defeats, the scale of setback that chokes optimism and fuels the flames of critics, finding a bit of calm away from football’s circus is more or less the only cure. Arsène Wenger believes the best place for his players to be to try to salve any wounds, to try to mend confidence, is within their own group. Wenger is not a traditional siege-mentality manager – some would hold that up as a fault – but his own take on the importance of a strong camp owes a lot to creating a kind of sanctuary for players.
In the spotlight, the modern Premier League footballer is under the kind of pressure that can easily tilt into being difficult to handle. So inside their gated, tree-lined training ground is where they rebalance and regroup. “There’s a special thing happening for a football player in the dressing room,” Wenger says. He elaborates by recounting a recent conversation with David Beckham. “I asked him: ‘Do you miss it?’ He said: ‘Football I can play every day, I’m invited in all the charity games, but I miss the dressing room, that kind of being together for something together, fighting together.’ That’s what you miss. That helps them to get over things.”
Arsenal’s squad face the challenge of getting over consecutive defeats at Everton and Manchester City. Dealing with the layers of pressure – ranging from what a player puts on himself to what they sense from the crowd or the torrents that assail them on social media – is not always easy for the modern footballer. “I’ve seen many players fail because they did not have resistance to stress. It’s not easy to walk out sometimes in a hostile atmosphere and perform at your best,” says Wenger. “Everybody responds individually to that, some are more affected than others. I believe what is important is the strength you find inside and you respond inside the club to be united inside the dressing room.
“You do not go in the season and have no disappointment. We have just lost two games. Of course it’s tough but City didn’t win for six, Tottenham for four or five, Manchester United as well, all the teams go through that. It’s the teams who respond well together who have the most success. It’s part of it. In 20 years I had very few seasons where you start on the motorway and you finish on the motorway with no car in front of you.”
After last week’s crash, Arsenal are aiming to rejoin the carriageway and rev up, starting on Boxing Day against West Bromwich Albion. Such is the nature of fandom today, as well as beating the opposition Arsenal need to win back the support of some of the fanbase. Wenger understands that reactions to bad results can be extreme these days.
“That’s just society. We have gone that way – if you have five candidates to be elected prime minister you organise the vote one Sunday and people will elect one. You organise a vote for the next Sunday and they might elect somebody else. That’s where we are today and we have to live with that and the excessive reactions. What you want in life is to focus on what you want to achieve and give the maximum to achieve it and question yourself always. We have chosen a job which is action and how we perform and what we do. That’s what we have to focus on.”
Wenger says he is not swayed by the unpredictable election culture he describes. “I’ve been in the job long enough to put that into perspective as part of people who love the club that are really disappointed on Monday morning and get their frustration out. We have to live with that. It doesn’t mean they are not ready to change their mind if we win the next game.
“Sometimes I am frustrated as well. I do not say that I am immune to critics but I do not want to be influenced too much by it. Because it can frustrate. ‘Why does he say that, why does he say this? It’s not true.’ Focus on your job. That’s what you are paid for. It’s the only way you can affect the next result.”
Arsenal have a run of fixtures that Wenger will not take for granted but he will be hoping for a strong return. After West Brom come Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Swansea City, Burnley and Watford. He does know that it is imperative to kick-start confidence and pick up a string of wins to try to revive damaged hopes for a club who want to be Premier League contenders.
