It’s becoming a more and more real possibility that Arsenal will finish outside of the top four this season in the Premier League and Arsene Wenger is beginning to concede that notion.
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The veteran French manager has been with the Gunners since 1996 and in that time Arsenal have qualified for the UEFA Champions League every season.
Arsenal’s most recent 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace sparked a huge uprise from the club’s London supporters regarding both the performances of the team’s players and first-team manager.
With Wenger and Arsenal currently trailing fourth place Manchester City by seven points the 67-year-old realizes how difficult a task it will be to make up the necessary ground with eight matches left to play.
“It’s massive,” Wenger said during Friday’s press conference. “We might get there, we might not but we have to believe we can do it. It’s not the fear to fail, it’s the desire to make it.
“It’s a big challenge, of course. In football, you have to accept that you can win, lose or draw but you have to give everything to win the next game.
“It’s not been very enjoyable but those moments are part of our job. You focus and prepare and make sure the next game doesn’t go the same way.
“Playing with restriction doesn’t help the performance. We are under pressure to deliver and the best way to play is to accept the risk.”