Wenger - We want to be judged by actions

Arsène Wenger wants his team to be judged on its actions - and that means putting in a shift at Blackpool on Sunday.

The Arsenal manager and his players have been under fire in recent weeks after falling short in three cup competitions and falling behind Manchester United in the race for the Premier League title.

Opinions - most of them negative - have been thrown around like confetti since last weekend's 0-0 draw with Blackburn after a performance that Wenger admits was not of the required standard.

The Frenchman puts much of the vitriol directed at his team down to the nature of society and he knows that the critics will only get off Arsenal's back if they are 'up for it' at Bloomfield Road.

"That is what we want to show," said Wenger.

"You are judged only on your last game. We live in a society where everybody has an opinion and very few people do something. We have to act and we want to be judged on our actions.

"For the rest, our society lives at the moment only on opinion. I have grown up by judging people on what they do, not what they say. We want to be judged on Sunday on what we do, that means a good performance."

One of those 'opinions' came from former Gunner Paul Merson, who claimed this week that Arsenal lack a 'winning mentality'. Wenger believes he has enough experience to understand what his team is doing wrong - and where they are progressing.

"I do not want to go into the comments or individual opinion of people," he said. "I managed 1,500 games and I have to listen to many opinions of people who have done a bit less. I am ready to do it but not ready to comment on it.

"We understand that [it is a long time without a trophy]. We give our maximum and you have to accept people's opinion. Let's hope that in the whole of history we will never be more disappointed than [we are now]. If the situation remains like that, it is not too dramatic.

"I believe we have done well. We have been hit very hard with big disappointments but we have not lost in the FA or the Champions League against anybody, we have lost against good teams. In one week, we had three big disappointments.

"Personally, I am very proud of the attitude, the behaviour and the quality of our season. I will defend that until the end. It is important that we finish as well as we can and the quality of the team is linked with the mental attitude that we have and how much you are ready to fight until the end of the season."