Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is known as the "Professor" for his studious analysis of the game and the fact that he carries a degree in economics, which he has put into wide use in his job.

However, Monday saw the usually serene and cool Frenchman lose his cool considerably, as cracks seemed to appear in a wall that has stood firm for 16 years.

Following the embarrassing loss to Blackburn in the fifth round of the F.A. Cup at home, there was bound to be some criticism - how far that went and whether it was fair on the man, who pretty much changed the landscape of the English game when he came in, can be argued of course.

However, when you are in such a high-profile job as being the manager of Arsenal, one of the biggest and most popular clubs in the world, even if they have not won too many trophies in recent times, you are bound to face some criticism.

Wenger normally would have just stonewalled the issues and concentrated on the job at hand, not letting it get to him. However, in the Bayern Munich Champions League pre-match press conference, the "Professor" completely lost his cool, when queried about whether reports of a new contract were true.

"That is the wrong information and I work for 16 years in England and I think I deserve a bit more credit than wrong information that has only one intention: to harm," the 63-year-old said.

"If it is good information which comes from nowhere it is all right, but this is wrong information that comes from nowhere and it is completely wrong.

"I have been in this game for 30 years and if I was paranoid you would know already. I have worked for 16 years in England and deserve a certain respect.

"'You can say  I am doing a bad job but being manipulative is wrong.

"People say I don't take the F.A. Cup seriously but I have won it four times. Name another manager who has won it four times. It is disrespectful to say I put out a weakened team because we started with 11 internationals."

Wenger then got embroiled in an argument with a journalist. "I look at you not because you give information, I do not know if it is you, I do not know where the information comes from," he said. "Why do you look at me? I just thought you had given this information out.

"Here this is a pre-match conference for the Champions League, if you want to talk about Saturday, that press conference has been made after the game.

"Can we get some questions about tomorrow's (Tuesday's) game, that would be very nice."

Now Wenger has had a go at journalists and the media before, but this was a little more than just another heated interaction.

Could it be possible that Wenger is finally starting to crack under the pressure of going without a trophy for eight years?

The F.A. Cup was the most realistic shot at silverware, and it would have made some weird sense if the trophy had been won, with Arsenal's last piece of silverware incidentally coming in the same tournament in 2005.

Wenger has always been the man to steady the ship, to keep things calm; but if the manager himself starts to lose it -- in front of the media that too - it is bound to have an effect on the players as well.

It could have a positive effect, with the players and staff banding together to prove to everyone what they can achieve, or things can just snowball, eventually turning into one major catastrophe at the end of the season.

Tuesday's game at the Emirates against Bayern Munich will be a pointer to what effect the comments made in the press conference has had on the players.