Arsenal will not sack Arsène Wenger, insists chief executive Gazidis

• Ivan Gazidis attacks criticism of Wenger as 'nonsense'
• Arsenal have made worst start to a season since 1953

Arsenal will not sack Arsène Wenger, says the club's chief executive Ivan Gazidis. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images
Arsenal's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has delivered a rousing defence of the club's manager, Arsène Wenger, insisting suggestions that the Frenchman's methods no longer suit the modern game and that his position is under threat are "nonsense". Following last season's dismal conclusion Arsenal have made their worst start to a campaign in over half a century but Gazidis said criticism of the club and the manager is a result of dangerous "short-termism" and that in the long run Arsenal are on course to thrive. "[The criticism of Wenger] is part of this black and white perception: that you're either flying high or a broken failure," said Gazidis. "He didn't suddenly become a bad manager. To have him portrayed as some kind of idiot who is out of touch is profoundly damaging, not simply for Arsenal nor particularly for Arsène, but for football. It's nonsense based on the need to always create a mini-crisis … we are incredibly fortunate to have a manager who has a vision of what the game can be. To have a manager that thinks about the future is relatively rare. "There is genuine unity of purpose at Arsenal. We are fully supportive of each other. I think the lack of division [between the board and the manager] sometimes infuriates people." Gazidis rubbished suggestions that Wenger has become disillusioned by the criticism, saying the manager remains "passionately engaged" to the club. He acknowledged that the team have had some "horrible" results in recent months and fallen below expectations but said it is to Wenger's credit that expectations are so high in the first place. "The potential is very high at the club but self-inflicted problems have prevented us from achieving that potential. We have to correct that – that is the frustration that Arsène is wrestling with." The purchase of Mikel Arteta, Per Mertersacker and Yossi Benayoun in the final days of the recent transfer window, in the wake of the 8-2 defeat by Manchester United, led many to deduce that Wenger has abandoned his faith in youth but Gazidis insisted the club's approach has merely been tweaked. "We have made a tactical adjustment but the strategy remains the same," he said. "We still strive to develop young players but in the last transfer window we sprinkled the squad with some experience too. However, bearing in mind what we did earlier in the window [with the recruitment of players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson] the squad is younger than it was before the window." Gazidis said that for Arsenal to attempt to match the spending of teams such as Manchester City and Chelsea would be counterproductive. "Firstly it would simply drive prices to another level so it wouldn't achieve anything. Secondly it would not be sustainable." He said Arsenal should be congratulated for not trying to keep up with the extravagant spending of rivals and that to do so would be to jeopardise the future of the club and of football. He said in this regard Arsenal are "role models" because other clubs are striving to become as carefully run as the Emirates club. "I don't think clubs are moving away from Arsenal, I think the opposite is true … we are ahead of the game. We are where other clubs want to be."