Arsene Wenger understands Arsenal fans' disappointment but will not change philosophy or way club is run: We get it 95% right

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he understands why fans are frustrated after a disappointing season but will not necessarily change the way he runs the club.

The Gunners finished yet another season without a trophy – their sixth in a row – after fighting on four fronts.

Wenger's men lost in the final of the League Cup, before being knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup in the space of a week, and fell 12 points adrift of Manchester United to finish in fourth.

However, Wenger believes that there is nothing wrong with the philosophical approach from the club and only minor tweaks need to be made.

"The criticism has been sharper this year because of the impatience of people," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online.

"People are used to us being in the Champions League so we have to give them more, but we're not capable of doing that.

"People love what we do but they want us to be rewarded so that they can be convinced we do things the right way. They want proof that we do things the right way.

"For our fans the frustration was that we were so close to convincing everybody of how football can be great, but in the end not being able to deliver.

"I would call it disappointed love. It was cruel and sometimes you get excessive responses to that. I share that and understand it.

"But that doesn't mean we have to change our philosophy or the way the club is run.

"We get it 95 per cent right, but we must gain that 5% because it's so frustrating to flirt with success like we have done.

"The fans are unhappy that we didn't win the Premier League, but we are close.

"In 2003 we were also the best away team, but didn't win. We kept going and in 2004 we were very strong."

Wenger highlighted a poor run in April which saw the Gunners pick up just two points from three matches, ultimately ending their title challenge.

"I was happy with the attitude of the players and our away form," he said.

"But what was disappointing was that when we needed to push on, we could not show the nerves to deal well with some games.

"I'm thinking about Liverpool, Tottenham and Bolton. We had good opportunities to win those games and had we done, that would have been seven points more."

The Gunners conceded a total of 41 goals – a sign of weakness in otherwise a strong team and the absence of centre-back Thomas Vermaelen for most of the season certainly did not help their cause.

Wenger believes that most of the problems came from set-pieces and has identified the need for taller defenders if they are to continue the challenge next season.

"We conceded very few goals from open play, most of them were from set pieces in a way you don't want to concede goals," he said.

"It's something that's easy to correct. We need to improve the size of our squad. We need a bigger variety in the height of our players.

"We need to be more capable of fighting against some characteristics than we have been this season."

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