Former Arsenal player Andrey Arshavin has
criticised the Gunners faithful for the "weird"
atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium.
The 32-year-old now plays his football for Zenit St
Petersburg, having left the North London club
when his contract ended in June to return to the
side Arsene Wenger first bought him from in 2009.
In what was a difficult period for the Russian
playmaker, Arshavin recalls the lack of support
from the home fans and the resulting absence of a
home advantage at the Emirates.
"The atmosphere was weird. It felt like the crowd
was at the theatre - good seats, expensive tickets
and they wanted to see a show, not to support the
team,” he told the Sun .
"It was like there was no advantage in playing at
home. Many of the players - the leaders that were
left from the club’s time at Highbury - often
complained that the atmosphere in the stands was
so bad."
Despite sitting top of the Premier League, Arsene
Wenger’s side have lost their last two home
games against Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea,
and next face Liverpool on Saturday at the
Emirates.
However, the Frenchman remains positive ahead of
a difficult run of games, including away trips to
Dortmund and Manchester United.
"We want to win every home game, so the home
form is a concern - but not as big a concern as
the statistics might show it," he told the Mirror .
"Against Dortmund and Chelsea, we gave easy
goals away. That is a positive and a negative. The
negative is that we gave the goals away, but the
positive is that neither of them created too many
chances against us.
"It is down to how we get rid of those mistakes
without losing the belief in our qualities. That is
what is at stake."
Comments
Post a Comment