Arsene Wenger has passionately defended his position as Arsenal boss and insists he has become bored of people questioning whether he has what it takes to continue in the job.
The 66-year-old has been accustomed in recent years to supporters and pundits alike calling for him to end his long reign with the Gunners, and in recent weeks he has faced a fresh wave of criticism aft-er the team’s Premier League title hopes were derailed by poor results.
Wenger, who is now the longest-serving manager in Europe as he approaches 20 years at the helm at Arsenal, has seen his side win just three of their last 12 matches in all competitions, leaving them on the brink of Champions League elimination and eight points adrift of domestic league leaders Leicester with nine games remaining.
They face Hull in an FA Cup fifth-round replay tonight as they look to win the competition for a third straight season, having beaten the Tigers in the 2014 final and defended the trophy against Aston Villa at Wembley last May.
“I have worked here for 19, 20 years and I’m always sitting here having to justify that I’m good enough to do the job,” he said.
“I have no problem to cope with everything but I find that a bit boring in the end. I always have to convince you that I am good enough. I worked for 35 years at the top level.
“What I find just boring is always sitting here after 19 years to face, ‘Do you think you are good enough?’ If I am not, somebody will tell me.”
Wenger’s counterpart at Hull will be Steve Bruce, who labelled criticism of the Frenchman “appalling” and said the only thing he would be giving the Arsenal boss is respect.
A sixth-round clash at home to Watford awaits the winner, with Arsenal’s Premier League game against West Brom to be rescheduled if they advance.
Wenger is an advocate of the FA Cup, but he is still likely to make changes as his side face four games in the next 10 days.
“I will have to but I’m not so much concerned about replacing one player with another one,” he added. “It’s more that I have to
rotate a little bit and keep the right balance in the team.”
