ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger said yesterday that he will not take criticism from major shareholder Alisher Usmanov personally, but has told everyone involved with the club they must get behind his team.

Uzbek oil magnate Usmanov, who has a 30 per cent stake in the Gunners’ parent company, questioned the direction of the club in an interview with US broadcaster CNBC. He suggested Wenger’s mistakes had never been properly evaluated.

The Gunners boss, though, believes such public statements and suggestions of crisis talks with the board do little to benefit the team, who host Borussia Dortmund tonight looking to secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League once again.

“When you are such a long time in football as I am, you don’t understand any more what crisis means. I must get to the dictionary and look at it well again,” said Wenger.

“During the 18 years I have been here I have shown that I can take criticism. Everybody has the right to have an opinion, having said that, we have values at this club.

“The first one is when we go through a difficult patch, we show solidarity. That is a very important one.

“The second one is that, when you have something to say to each other, we say it face to face. We don’t need to go to the newspapers.”