• Premier League

Show some solidarity, Wenger tells critical Usmanov

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told Alisher Usmanov that he should show some solidarity during difficult times or at least be brave enough to criticise him to his face.

The Frenchman claimed he didn't take an attack from the club's major shareholder personally and could brush off claims his stubborn approach is stunting their progress.

But in underlining the values that appeared to come under fire from Usmanov, Wenger told the billionaire he is either for Arsenal or against them.

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Arsenal and Liverpool have started poorly © Getty Images

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"Everybody has the right to have an opinion," said Wenger. "Having said that, we have values at this club and the first is when you go through a difficult patch, you show solidarity. That is a very important one.

"The second is when you have something to say to each other, you say it face to face. We don't need to go to the newspapers.

"Believe me, I don't take it personally at all. It is an opinion that I respect, but when you are from this club, you are from this club. You are in or out, you cannot be both.

"We know the rules of the game. We know how it works. What is important is how close we are together inside the club and how much we can respond to people who question our quality.

"There is a very strong bond inside the team and the club and [confidence] that this team will have a very strong season. I am willing to bet with you on that."

Wenger, who has come under increasing pressure since Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Manchester United, was also asked to address claims that he had held "crisis talks" with Arsenal chief Ivan Gazidis.

"When you such a long time in football like I am, you don't really know what the word crisis means," he said. "I must get to the dictionary and look at it again.

"I believe in what I do and I believe especially in my players, in their quality and in their spirit. I question myself every day and I hope that you do that as well.

"We don't deny it was a huge disappointment to lose the game on Saturday. I am long enough in the game to know that you play well and lose, you get flooded with critics. You play a very bad and win, everyone says you are great you are. It is our job to take a distance from that."

Alisher Usmanov wants Arsene Wenger to admit to mistakes © Getty Images

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Midfielder Aaron Ramsey, looking ahead to Arsenal's Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday at Emirates Stadium, backed up his manager's claims.

"We believe in ourselves, we have a great team spirit and we are not too concerned about what is being said about us," said the Wales midfielder. "We know what we are capable of doing and it is just some fine tuning to do.

"We know what we are capable of and it is just some fine tuning to do. We had a good game, in my opinion, against United. We created good opportunities and on another day we would have gone in 3-0 up at half-time and it would have been a different game. It wasn't to be and we have to learn from that.

"It is important not to get too down about it. We played well and we have to continue to play in the way we believe we should play. We are looking forward to the game against Dortmund now."

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