The Gunners boss has endured one of the most testing openings to a campaign of his tenure, being thrashed 8-2 at Manchester United before the international break. However, he made five signings ahead of transfer deadline to rebuild the squad after selling captain Cesc Fabregas and playmaker Samir Nasri, and there are signs of positive improvement. Arsenal built on what was a nervy 1-0 win over Swansea last weekend, a first of the new Premier League campaign, with a hard-fought 1-1 Champions League draw at Borussia Dortmund and head to bottom club Blackburn boosted by the return of duo Alex Song and Gervinho from their domestic three-match bans. Wenger understands the challenges ahead as he aims to plot the Gunners safe course back to towards the top four. "It starts again because we have taken five players, but we have invested as well," Wenger said. "Our highest investment has been in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a young player. We have the work permit for Ryo Miyaichi - we will not give up on our youth policy. "We were a team on the up and that was not rewarded last year because we were a bit hungry to go for all four trophies. "But the basic quality was there and we were certainly very close to winning last year. "We were suddenly hit by major departures that were not planned so we had to review a little bit just with the injuries we had. "We couldn't survive without buying players and the players available had a bit more experience than what we usually do." Wenger added: "I judge myself by giving my best of intelligence, experience and commitment to the club and after I let other people judge what I do. "At the end of the day you know yourself at the end of the season whether you took the maximum out of the team and their potential." Wenger accepts heading to Blackburn, a ground where they had traditionally struggled in the past, will prove a "massive test" of their ability to mount a serious challenge again. However, the Arsenal manager refuses to read too much into their previous trip to the north west, which ended in complete "humiliation". Wenger said of the United defeat: "Emotionally it was very hard to take, but the football significance of a big result is very small. "It is a humiliation, but apart from that, when I have been involved in a game when we have beaten a team by six or seven, they have done well afterwards, also we have lost some big games as well and then did well after." Wenger added: "The most difficult is to show consistency, in any sport and we have managed to do that above and beyond expectations and nobody else has done better than us on the consistency level." The Arsenal manager, though, accepts patience is very much a virtue in the current footballing climate. Asked how long he felt the club's new cycle would be given to deliver success once more, Wenger quipped: "In the modern society - zero days."
