Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger maintains "any club in the world" would take continued qualification for the Champions League over just putting any old trophy in the cabinet.
GettyImagesArsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis (left) backed Arsene Wenger's plans.
"You ask any club in the world, do you want to win the League Cup or be in the Champions League next season? And they will all give you the same answer," Wenger said.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis, chairman Peter Hill-Wood and majority shareholder Stan Kroenke were all heckled at the club's annual general meeting Thursday over Arsenal's financial strategy and failure to win silverware since the FA Cup in 2005.
Wenger had earlier used his address to calm what was becoming an increasingly heated atmosphere inside the Emirates Stadium's plush Royal Oak Suite.
The Frenchman stressed the club had not stood still in their barren years, ranking qualification for Europe's elite competition third in his list of "five trophies" behind the Barclays Premier League and Champions League, which was needed to continue to attract top players.
Wenger later reiterated his position when speaking in his media conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League home clash with bottom club QPR, when Arsenal will look to arrest a run of successive defeats.
"Of course we want both (league and Champions League trophies), but sometimes we are in positions where you cannot do both, when you have a short squad, you have to make a choice," he said.
"We play now Saturday, then Tuesday at Reading (in the Capital One Cup), then we play Manchester United on Saturday and go to Schalke. At some stage you have to make a choice and in that choice sometimes you have to put priorities in."
The AGM was one of the most heated of recent years, with at one point Gazidis needing to call order after being accused by one shareholder of "ruining the club" with his financial policies.
Wenger, though, received a warm reception after his address, which had opened with an apology for the recent defeats against Norwich last weekend and Schalke on Wednesday night.
Later, the Arsenal manager accepted such meetings can become "emotional."
"There were concerns, of course, and there is no better moment than the AGM to express it," he said. "It is sometimes emotional. I think as well, it's a lot guided by fear.
"Our fans fear that we will not be capable to compete financially to keep our best players and you know that subject. And you knew that would turn up, that is nothing new."
Gazidis had earlier claimed Arsenal would be able to compete with the world's biggest and best clubs as UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations become more rigorously enforced.
"In the next two years, we will have the financial resources to sit and compete among the leading clubs in the world, which is an extraordinary achievement," he said.
Kroenke, known as 'Silent Stan' for being very much in the background, was asked whether dividends were to be paid to shareholders which would mean money being taken out of the club at some future stage.
The American tycoon, whose group also owns the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Rapids, the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis RamsSt. Louis Rams said: "This club is run through the board and I have always been respectful of that process. So those would be board decisions.
"Aside from that, as majority shareholder, I think it is good and bad for me, but it is clear that we have a record in sports around the world," he said.
"We have never put any debt on this club for acquisition, never ever in any meeting said that money was not available to spend. I have told people over the years I have one regret with Arsenal -- I didn't get involved earlier.
"We have a record of reinvestment in our other clubs, and it's there for everyone else to see."
Kroenke was then challenged directly by members of the Arsenal Supporters Trust for more meetings, a pledge which was made in his £650 million ($1.04 billion) takeover in April 2011.
There were also questions on how the board were working with second-largest shareholders Red & White Holdings, which is backed by Usbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov, and issues raised over ticket prices and the cost of food at Emirates Stadium, where fish and chips cost £13.90 ($22).
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