The Gunners boss has once again found his unwavering faith in youth called into question as the club face the possibility of a sixth season without silverware.

While Arsenal have hardly stood still in that period, either on or off the pitch, Wenger knows some people will continue to judge success purely by silverware.

However, the 61-year-old Frenchman maintains everything he has done since transforming the fortunes of the north London club over the past decade has been for the greater good - and he is not about to pack it all in now.

"My worry is to do as well as I can with the team and to get them to play decent football, so that people come and pay for their tickets and are not bored," said Wenger.

"I have watched a lot of games in my life and I think we can have a clear conscience that we do not try to cheat our people.

"We don't always manage to do it, but people come to the games and we always try to give them something for the money they spend. There is always that ambition and if we do not manage to do it then we are sorry."

Wenger is in no doubt he remains the right man for the job.

"I extended my contract for three years and I always respect my contracts," he said.

"I cannot ask my players to respect their contracts if I don't do it."

Wenger added: "I don't understand - we are second in the league and everybody keeps asking me if I should give up. What kind of world do we live in?"

Despite a disappointing six-week spell on the back of defeat in the Carling Cup final which was followed by exits from Europe and the FA Cup, Arsenal remain the closest challengers to Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United.

However, for the Gunners to stand any chance of making their May 1 showdown against Sir Alex Ferguson's men count, Wenger accepts there can be no repeat of the flat performance in last weekend's frustrating goalless draw with 10-man Blackburn at the Emirates Stadium.

"This team cares and when what happened to us happened, it takes time to recover from that," he said.

"We have not given up - we want to do well, but it is not as easy and as spontaneous as it was before.

"The players want to win the games. They are frustrated.

"We fight very hard and the situation right now is difficult, but we can show our fighting qualities."