Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has slammed speculation over his future as the London football club's coach, insisting that it is "becoming a farce".
The Premier League side was dumped out of the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 1-2 defeat at home to Watford here on Sunday. The loss was their fourth in six matches and followed a disappointing few weeks that saw them all but finished in the Champions League and drop eight points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City.
"What is going on at the moment is very, very difficult to take for the players but judge us at the end of the season. We have come to the end of a very, very long run in the FA Cup, so it is very sad. But we want to now focus on the next game which is always a big challenge and you are always in the middle of a drama," Wenger was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
"It is becoming a farce. We have lost a game. Arsenal has lost games before in history and we will lose again in the future. We will stick together and cope with it and prepare for the next one with complete belief."
The 'Gunners' defeat was the first time they lost in the competition in 37 months. But Wenger believes his side was good enough to beat Watford.
"They defended well, took their chances on the break. They were physically very strong and overall we had enough chances to win the game. It was difficult to understand why we didn't score, I want to watch it again. It is a typical Cup game where a team comes and fights and takes their chances with us trying to score," the Frenchman concluded.