Arsenal were one of the 12 clubs which wanted to form a breakaway European Super League. However after the tremendous backlash from their fans and former players they decided to withdraw from it within 48 hours.
The fans shared a piece of their mind as they protested in thousands ahead of their 0-1 defeat against Everton in the Premier League. The fans are not happy with the owners, especially Stan Kroenke and the way he runs the club. Amidst all the protests and chaos, Thierry Henry, the club’s all-time highest goalscorer and an absolute Arsenal legend also joined with the fans in calling out the owners and also criticising their values on which the club is running at the moment.
I do not recognise my club and what happened just now, with them trying to join a league that would have been closed, makes no sense to me,
Henry told the Telegraph.
They have been running the club like a company, not a football club, and they showed their hand. Maybe it’s a lack of understanding of the core football values and maybe the money was too big of a temptation. But whatever it was, they got it wrong. Badly wrong.
The Frenchman echoed similar things which even former manager Arsene Wenger also said regarding the Arsenal owners. Henry sympathises with the fans and feels that they do not deserve to go through all of this as he himself is an Arsenal fan.
I was genuinely shocked like most people and couldn’t believe what was unfolding. I have never talked before, but what happened recently made me realise fans, this is your club. It is your club and I’m an Arsenal fan too. I’m proud of what the fans achieved. Not just Arsenal fans, all the fans. The result was a victory for football,
Henry signed off.
Recently amidst the protests and calling outs, Daniel Ek, who is a co-founder and chief executive of music streaming platform- Spotify has revealed his intentions of buying the club only if the current owners, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment put it up for sale. While the fans are eager to see the departure of Kroenke from the Emirates Stadium, the owners have no such intentions for now at least.
Arsenal director Josh Kroenke who is the son of principal owner Stan cleared the air by revealing that they have no intentions to sell the club. They believe that they are beyond fit to carry out as owners for the North London outfit.
While the plans of the European Super League did not come to fruition as all the six English Premier League sides which were firstly the founding members of the league backed out. However, the Arsenal fans are not happy with their current owners and want them to put the club on sale as they believe that a similar kind of thing may happen again in the near future.
While the tensions rise off the field, the Gunners have not stepped it up on the field as well. Mikel Arteta’s men are currently as low as in the ninth position in the Premier League table, twelve points adrift of Chelsea who are fourth in the table. Therefore with only a few matches left in the season Arsenal have no hope of qualifying for the Champions League. However, the only glimmer of hope that they have is by winning the Europa League. The Gunners are currently in the semifinals as they defeated Slavia Praha in the quarters by a handsome margin and will now face former manager Unai Emery and his stellar Villareal side.
Overall with the fans voicing their opinions on the owners and calling them out and even the team not performing to their previous standards make the whole situation very gloomy for the Arsenal faithful. Therefore, winning the Europa League may give the fans some respite from the current situation at hand.
