Wenger slams 'boring' critics and threatens media walkout

Wenger's side suffered an embarrassing 3-2 defeat at home to Olympiakos on Tuesday, when stand-in goalkeeper David Ospina dropped a corner into his own net to leave the Gunners in danger of being eliminated from the Champions League.

Arsenal, who next face a double-header against Group F leaders Bayern Munich, came in for heavy criticism from both fans and pundits alike, with former Manchester United captain Roy Keane labelling the team as weak and soft.

But Wenger refused to accept the abuse in silence and launched an unusually impassioned defence of his team and his tactics when he faced the media at his press conference on Friday ahead of Sunday's clash against Manchester United.

The Gunners boss was especially animated when defending his decision to select Ospina ahead of the vastly experienced Petr Cech against Olympiakos.

"You come to the game, you judge the game and you assess if I am right or wrong. I never critiqued that, I accept your judgement of how the team played and your assessment, but I don't have to give you all the information I have to make my decisions," Wenger told reporters.

"I make the decision that is right on the day and I am accountable on the results of my team and the way we play football."

When pressed to respond to the comments of Chelsea boss Mourinho that there was only one manager in the Premier League not under pressure, Wenger curtly replied: "Look, stop that story or we stop the press conference."

Wenger was in a tetchy mood throughout the briefing and repeatedly hit back at the criticism of his side.

"I think you lack a bit of creativity in the press at the moment, that you follow a bandwagon that is very, very, very, very boring. I don't go along with that," he said.

"If you have any interesting questions for Sunday's game I can answer, but apart from that let's not come back always to the same story.

"You have not watched well the game on Tuesday night. You come always with that same story, you can put the goalkeeper you want in the goal, he can make a mistake, you have to accept that.

"It's down to everybody. But if you have watched the game and you come down to the conclusion that we lost the game because of Ospina, I question your knowledge of football.

"One pundit says something on television and all behind that they repeat exactly the same thing.

"It is quite depressing to read that and to hear that, to all come just to the same conclusion and not to have watched well what has gone on the pitch."