Arsène Wenger has made it abundantly clear that he is far from finished as a manager and will continue in the job for the foreseeable future – although not necessarily at Arsenal.

The Frenchman endured unprecedented criticism in the wake of Wednesday’s 5-1 thrashing by Bayern Munich, and the familiar nature of the defeat, combined with Wenger’s demeanour in its immediate aftermath, had fanned a sense that his days in the dugout will end soon. But at a press conference on Friday morning he set out to banish that notion.

Obsession over who can fill Arsène Wenger’s shoes obscures Arsenal’s real problems | Toby Moses Read more

“No matter what happens, I will manage next season, whether it’s here or somewhere else, I am not sure,” said the 67-year-old when asked whether he was minded to retire following another chastening failure in the Champions League and amid rising dissent from Arsenal supporters. Wenger insisted that he felt the pain of defeat as much as anyone but said he retains the desire and fortitude to carry on.

“I want to do extremely well, I feel a big responsibility,” he said. “You do not stay somewhere for 20 years and walk out of a defeat like that and whistle. But I have the strength and experience to deal with that. I would just like to add as well that we played against a good Bayern team who have won this competition [recently], and who have 11 top-class players.

“We have to give credit to our opponents as well sometimes. It’s important to put things into perspective in this competition, and they are top-class players. I am in a public job, I accept that and I have to behave with my values and accept everyone can have an opinion,” he added. “We have to focus on real problems. The way we play football, not my future. The priorities are how we respond to a defeat and how we play together. It’s always important not to look for wrong excuses in life and focus on what is important and what you can influence in your job.”

Wenger seemingly still has the backing of his employer and the offer of a two-year contract extension, worth a reported £8m-per-year, remains on the table but the Frenchman repeated that he will wait until March or April before deciding whether to accept that.

“If I said March or April it is because I don’t know,” he said. “My personal situation is not important, it’s Arsenal Football Club and the future of our team and what we can achieve until the end of the season that is important.”

He also batted away reports of disharmony in the dressing room, denying claims that players engaged in a heated argument in the aftermath of the error-strewn 5-1 humiliation at the Allianz Arena. Asked whether any row took place, Wenger said: “No, not at all. Everybody was, of course, deeply disappointed and affected but there was no incident apart from a huge sadness and disappointment.”

Wenger also denied reports that Alexis Sánchez, who seemed particularly disillusioned during the loss, has been given time off to go on holiday. He said the Chilean went to Barcelona for a court hearing about a tax case on Friday and will return to London on Saturday He also explained that he did not know the extent of the injury suffered by the centre back Laurent Koscielny on Wednesday and that the player would be undergoing a scan later on Friday.

Wenger invited Arsenal supporters, as ever, to take a broader view of the club’s situation, reminding them that he has established the club as regular participants in Europe’s elite competition. “That is an eternal debate when you are somewhere for a long time and you have a big disappointment,” he said.

“Even if I go, Arsenal will not win every single game in the future, that is part of it, you have to accept that, as much as it hurts to lose games. If you look at the history of Arsenal, Arsenal had less Champions League games when I arrived than I had in my career already, and since then we have done a few, so I hope in the future we can win this trophy, or Arsenal can win this trophy, but it is not like I arrived Arsenal had already won the European Cup five times – they had never won the European Cup.

“In the last 20 years only three clubs have played in Europe every season: Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. That means that although everything is not perfect, not all is wrong. We have to accept that. It will be difficult this year because it is a fight at the top level where we have to focus on what is really important now, which is the quality of our performances and the quality of our games.”