Wenger tells Gloomy-Gus Gooners - Cheer up! You could be Liverpool fans

Arsene Wenger has told unhappy Arsenal fans it could be worse – they could be following Liverpool.

Wenger is facing a bin-bag backlash from supporters against ­Blackburn on Saturday , after the club slumped to seventh in the table following their midweek 0-0 draw away to Bolton.

They are now facing the prospect of missing out on a £30million Champions League place.

But the Arsenal boss was quick to remind supporters they have qualified for the ­Champions League in every full season he has been in charge and that other clubs are jealous of their record.

“We are in January and it [finishing fourth] can happen,” said Wenger. “But we are in competition with ­Liverpool, who have not won the league for 22 years and they had [previously] won it 18 times in 20 years. It can happen.”

While Wenger’s maths were slightly wrong on Liverpool’s title successes (it actually took them 89 years to win 18), the truth is that ­the Reds haven’t been league champions since 1990.

But while Liverpool fans are fiercely protective of their club, some Arsenal fans are plotting to put bin-liners on seats at the Emirates during the Blackburn game to highlight falling attendances amid a mediocre campaign.

Wenger said his Friday pre-match briefing “should be above” talking about the bin-liner protest, but the fact is he is now facing a growing minority of fans who believe ­disappointing recent seasons cannot be forgiven.

“Nobody has been in the Champions League more than us in the last 16 years,” said the Frenchman. “We wanted the three points at Bolton, but when you come out of a little crisis you come back slowly. We want to complete the recovery against Blackburn.

“We lost three games and then the confidence drops a little bit. But overall we have shown a great response against Aston Villa on Sunday, where we came back with a fantastic 3-2 win, and I feel that on Wednesday night we deserved to win the game.

“Overall I feel this team is strong mentally with a good spirit and attitude. We are ready for a fight and that is the most important thing.

“The fact that we have never been in this position is rather a credit to me in 16 years so I do not take that as a blame.

“I take that as a fantastic consistency; that is the most difficult thing at the top level. But now we have a very good ­opportunity to come back into a very strong ­position.

“I am here to make all of the fans happy and when I do not manage to do it I am, of course, not happy. But what is most important is that we have our fans happy at the end of the season.

“We have played 15 years on the trot in the Champions League and, in 10 days’ time, play AC Milan in the last 16.

“We want to come back to the Champions League position in the league, we want to prepare properly for the next round of the FA Cup and I wish that in the next 16 years it will be exactly the same for the club and that the fans will be happy.

“Ideally, I want everybody to be over the moon, but we live in a world where you have to accept that not everybody reacts the same.”

Wenger rarely allows himself to take any “credit”, but was clearly in the mood to have his say and remind a few unhappy supporters of his impressive track record since arriving in north London in 1996.

But the Frenchman admits he may have to gamble on ­forthcoming results and rest Robin van Persie at some stage, even though the Gunners are so dependant on him.

Wenger, who is hoping Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ­overcomes a minor knee injury, added: “The temptation is there [to rest Van Persie], but he is the main goalscorer, so I will maybe have to build a team that works around him.”

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