Arsene Wenger has given little away on his future at Arsenal after their embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace and with fans calling again for his sack.
The Frenchman faces increasing fan pressure after another thoroughly disappointing performance.
Crystal Palace had left Arsenal struggling to maintain their run of top-four finishes under Wenger.
He had led Arsenal to top-four finishes in each of his previous 20 seasons at the helm.
Now, the Frenchman’s side are seven points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City with eight games remaining.
Wenger’s contract expires at the end of the season, though he had been offered a two-year extension.
Wenger has refused to explain what his plans are for the 2017/18 campaign, despite claiming he’d made his mind up on his decision.
And he wouldn’t give much away Monday night after claiming he was “not in the mood” to discuss his own future in light of such a poor night on the pitch.
“I face it in every press conference at the moment but tonight I’m not in the mood to speak about it,” he said after the match.
He added: “At the moment I pay more respect to the fact we had a disappointing result.
“What counts is how we perform on the pitch, the players and myself and I feel everyone is focused in the club to do it.”
Palace led through Andros Townsend’s close-range finish, doubling their lead when Yohan Cabaye’s shot looped in.
Luka Milivojevic clinched victory with a firm, low penalty kick as Palace moved six points clear of the relegation zone.
The sixth-placed Arsenal did not manage a shot on target in a poor second half, though they had 72 per cent possession.
The possession advantage mattered for little as the hosts broke quickly on the counter-attack, exploiting space down the flanks and taking their chances clinically.
The Gunners looked defensively vulnerable whenever Palace went forward, lacking leadership without injured captain Laurent Koscielny.
And when the visitors did attack, Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was only required to make saves from Mohamed Elneny and Alexis Sanchez.
After the break, Hennessey did not even face a shot on target as Arsenal suffered a fourth straight away defeat for the first time under Wenger.
“Palace wanted it more. You could sense that from the kick-off,” Theo Walcott, Arsenal’s stand-in captain, said.
The manner of Arsenal’s performance — disorganised, devoid of attacking ideas and lacking fight — will increase the scrutiny on Wenger yet again.
There was also the barracking of his players in the latter stages of the match at Selhurst Park.
NAN.
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