LONDON -- Arsene Wenger says he will not change his style of play despite Arsenal's poor start to the season, and that England's failure to win a tournament in 50 years is proof that playing "ugly" football is the wrong way to go.
Arsenal's defence has leaked eight goals in the opening three games of the season, including four at Anfield where the Gunners were ripped apart by Liverpool before the international break.
Despite switching to a back-three formation last season, Arsenal have continued playing a possession-based style of football but were hit on quick counterattacks by both Stoke and Liverpool as they lost two of their opening three games of the campaign.
But when asked if it was time for Arsenal to start "winning ugly" and scrapping the attack-minded style Wenger has always championed, he was adamant that such thinking was misguided.
"That's where I think in England you come to the wrong conclusions always -- if England has not won on an international level in over 50 years, it's maybe time at some stage to come to the right conclusions," Wenger told a news conference.
"To convince people that to win you have to play ugly is for me a wrong debate. If you take the biggest teams in the world, they all play football. Brazil has won how many World Cups? They play football. Germany play football. Real Madrid play football, Barcelona play football.
"Yes, we didn't play well enough the way we want to play [at Liverpool], I agree with you, but to come out to a conclusion that you have to kick the ball into the stand to win football games is the wrong conclusion."
Wenger and his players are under renewed pressure after the Liverpool display and head into Saturday's game against Bournemouth desperate for a win to turn things around.
But Wenger cautioned against overreacting, and said his players must stick to what they do best.
"I believe at some stage what is important is that you stick to your principles, even if it doesn't go as well as you want it," he said.
"Do you question yourself? Yes. But don't question things that are absolutely not obvious because you lose one game. That's where I believe it's important that people around the team continue to believe in what we do."
Wenger also seemed to blame the media for turning fans against the club, but urged supporters to stay united in order to help the team overcome their struggles.
"You work very hard to get our fans on our back and you do that very well," he said. "I believe our fans are naturally with us and that they were disappointed is completely normal. Situations like that are a good opportunity as well to show that we are strong, united and decided.
"I love my players, I believe in my players and we have a good opportunity to show that we have the quality that people want from us. We are in a part of the season where we want our fans behind the team.
"We can come out of this game and come to a quick conclusion that we are not good enough, or they can say, 'Let's see what is happening' and stand behind the team. That's what we want."
Wenger also dismissed an argument that developed over the international break between Mesut Ozil and former Arsenal players like Ian Wright and Thierry Henry, after Ozil issued a statement calling on the club "legends" to "stop talking and start supporting."
That was after both Wright and Henry -- and other former Arsenal players -- were deeply critical of Ozil's performance at Liverpool.
But Wenger pointed out that none of his "legends" were perfect during their days as a player.
"I always have problems understanding what a legend is and what a legend isn't," he said. "I've had all those players here and we speak today, but they all had their weaknesses as well. Don't worry about that. They had their weak games as well, and their weak behaviours as well. Nobody was perfect.
"We have to take a distance with that as well, focus on our performance and not be dragged into any animosity. We are all grateful for what they have done for the club, but what matters is always the players on the pitch who can defend the pride of the club."