Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has called on his side to "stay united and fight" after ending a miserable week with a 2-0 defeat at Sunderland.
Gunners boss calls for response
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has called on his side to "stay united and fight" after ending a miserable week with a 2-0 defeat at Sunderland.
Sunderland dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup with a hard-fought success on Wearside to almost certainly condemn Arsenal to a seventh straight season without a trophy.
The Gunners are facing elimination from the Champions League following their 4-0 defeat by AC Milan in midweek to increase the pressure on Wenger.
Wenger was not keen to talk about his own future at the club and he wants his players to show the right response to the criticism they are getting.
"We have to take the criticism on board, stay together and face the critics," insisted Wenger. "The only response in our job is to stay united and fight and focus on the next game.
"It's very difficult tonight to say where it leaves us and what we will do, let's focus to finish well in the championship and fight as well, even if it's a small possibility, in the Champions League."
Wenger had been critical of his players in Milan but felt they had given everything against Sunderland and bemoaned referee Howard Webb's failure to award a penalty after Robin van Persie went down in the box under a challenge from John O'Shea in the first half.
Unlucky
"I think it was a committed performance and we gave absolutely everything that was left in our legs," added Wenger.
"We had three away games in one week and I believe it was a very unfortunate schedule to play away in the Champions League and immediately away again. They were very difficult pitches as well but we fought hard today.
"I felt we were a bit unlucky, it was 100% a penalty for us that Mr Webb missed and their first shot on goal was a goal. Then we had to chase the game and take every gamble and we were caught on the counter for the second.
"We had a lot of possession, didn't create a lot down to fantastic defending from Sunderland, but they left us the ball and ran after it."
