Arsene Wenger admitted his relief after watching his Arsenal side pick up their first Premier League victory of the season at Fulham on Saturday.
The Gunners ran out 3-1 winners at Craven Cottage as a goal from Olivier Giroud and two from Lukas Podolski helped the north Londoners bounce back from their shock defeat by Aston Villa last Saturday.
Arsenal’s lack of spending in the summer transfer window was thrown into the spotlight in the wake of the 3-1 loss to Villa at Emirates Stadium.
But Wenger insists he is encouraged by what he has seen from his team in recent months as they prepare for the return leg of their Champions League play-off against Fenerbahce on Tuesday.
“I feel relieved,” Wenger said after the win at Fulham. “Somebody told me yesterday that I’ve made 956 games for Arsenal. That means I care about what’s happening at this club.
“When we had the result last week, I was of course deeply disappointed. I’m not on a personal trip anymore. I’m about doing the things well for the club I love so I’m happy that we are back on track, that’s all.
“Look, we lost one game since the beginning of March. That’s why I think it was a shock. Of course the defeat was a shock because it’s the first game of the season. But still, we’ve lost one game since the beginning of March. We won in the Champions League away at Bayern. We won 3-0 at Fenerbahce.
“Being responsible in life is to do things that you think are right, it’s not to react to what people say.
“I’ve always felt that that is most important. If you always listen to what people say, you go five minutes one way and 10 minutes later you go the other way. It is like that.
“When you have responsibilities, you have just to focus on making the right decisions and if they are not right, to say ‘Sorry, I’m wrong’ and when we lose a game, I’m wrong.”