Debate: Time for Wenger to go?

Comment: Wenger open to scrutiny

Arsene Wenger has branded Stoke City's players "cowards" after critics questioned the bravery of his side.

The Arsenal manager launched an impassioned defence of his under-fire squad after suggestions they choked in the face of a physical performance from Stoke City on Saturday.

Arsenal suffered their third defeat of the season at the Britannia Stadium, where Theo Walcott was carried off with a damaged shoulder after being tripped by Rory Delap and Emmanuel Adebayor hurt his ankle after a full-blooded challenge from Ryan Shawcross.

Both players are now out of Arsenal's Champions League match with Fenerbahce at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow.

"I tell you they are brave," Wenger said of his players. "For me, you need to have more courage to play football when you know someone’s tackling you from behind without any intention to play the ball, with only one intention to hurt you and I can show you some tackles where I can prove what I say.

“The one who is tackling is not the brave one, for me the brave one is the one trying to play football.

“It happened at the weekend. Do you really feel that Delap tried to play the ball when he tackled Walcott or that Shawcross tried to play the ball when he tackled Adebayor off the pitch? All the players have been injured deliberately.

“To say that Walcott is not brave and the brave one is the player who tackles Walcott from behind - it’s just not true. It is something that I want to establish. The brave one is not the one who tackles from behind the player who tries to play football. That’s the coward.

“When you question the courage of my team, I’m sorry it’s not true. The team that tries to play football and respect the rules is for me the brave one.”

Wenger is feeling the pressure for the first time during his reign at the club, but he insists he is not panicking as he looks to get Arsenal's season back on track.

“I believe that when you lose a game you have to listen to many things,” Wenger said. “Some of them are right, many of them are wrong and it’s down to me to analyse what is right and what is wrong and I trust more what I see and what I feel than many different opinions.

“It’s more important for us to be calm, focused, let people talk and show on the pitch what we can do and I’m confident that we have the necessary strengths and quality and that we are united as a club and as a team – that will come out in the end.

“When you speak about listening to things, I read about my team not being brave".