Arsene Wenger says future will be decided by 'bigger picture' after he 'built up' Arsenal into what they are today

He believes he deserves time after how he has 'built up' the club

Wenger does not want 'one or two' bad results to cloud his thinking (Getty)

Arsene Wenger says his Arsenal future will be decided by the “bigger picture”, rather than a bad two weeks, as the 67-year-old revealed he still hasn’t made up his mind on whether to sign a two-year contract extension.

Doubt over whether the Emirates manager will stay has only grown in what has been a dismal spring spell, that has seen Arsenal lose 5-1 to Bayern Munich in their Champions League last-16 first leg and left them with a near-impossible task for Tuesday’s return in London. Wenger, however, had stressed on the eve of the game that he deserves the time to make a decision given how he has “built up” the club.

Pressed on whether he has “boxed himself into a corner” due to maybe needing the right spell of form to announce he is staying if he did decide that, Wenger responded: “Well I guess to take a bigger picture, you know.

“It’s like, you do not make this kind of decision focusing on one result or two bad results. You have to take a bigger picture and see can you take this club to the next level, take yourself to the next level, are you ready to pay the price for that but as well this decision is not necessarily linked with two weeks out of 20 years you know so that’s basically… I don’t feel I box myself in a corner.”

Wenger accepted that this had been a tough time, but argued that some of it is a matter of perspective, in what appeared a slightly cheeky dig at clubs who have not reached the last 16 of the Champions League. The most obvious of those, of course, is Tottenham Hotspur.

“Yeah, everything is a negative at the moment, basically the teams that have gone out in the group stage they are happy you know but we have gone through and we are in crisis,” he added.

“That is of course the problem but that’s part of it. We failed in the second half at Bayern Munich and we have paid for it. Having said that, we didn’t play against a weak team as well. We played against a team who fights to win the competition.

“I think people forget the circumstances a little bit. We lost [Laurent] Koscielny straight after and in seven minutes we conceded three goals. It’s a shock to take, you know, and… but of course it’s very disappointing but unfortunately my job you have to take some bad things as well.”

Asked what to expect from his side in a game where qualification appears beyond them, Wenger said he wanted a display befitting the occasion.

“Well you hope always the best before the game, you know, and I think what I expect from the team is just honour, respect the competition because we fight hard to be there, as I told you, respect who we are playing for and get out with that.”