Wenger heard the critics calling for his head, and he will shrug them off with a weary grimace.
He was wounded manager on Saturday night, however, as jeers at the final whistle illustrated.
There was a sharp contrast with opponent Louis van Gaal, who had captured hist first away win in charge of Manchester United, knowing it came with the fortune of an own goal by Kieran Gibbs, but only courtesy of a supreme late counter-attacking strike from Wayne Rooney.
His young patched up United team had conquered their early nerves, survived long spells of pressure from the Gunners, and forged a triumph that may prove a highly significant turning point for the club.
Once upon a time this was the match of the season, the title decider or maybe a storming Champions League semi-final, as in 2009.
The mood has changed; how could it not when the clubs were 7th and 9th in the Premier League table at kick-off?
Arsenal have had their worst start to a season for 32 years and are 15 points behind leaders after just 12 games.
"The 18 years I have been here I have shown that I can take criticism," he said. "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 on.
"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.
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