Anti-Kroenke protests biggest positive after latest dismal display

Anti-Kroenke protests biggest positive after latest dismal display

If nothing else, Bernd Leno's late own goal on Friday night was a fitting end to a dreadful week for Arsenal Football Club, both on and off the pitch.

A shambolic home performance against relegation-bound Fulham and an equally dismal display when the Toffees came to town sandwiched the European Super League fiasco - from a purely footballing perspective, this week's results have shown just how out of place this Arsenal side would have been had the idea somehow come to fruition.

But it was events off the field which dominated the agenda on Friday evening as Gooners descended on the Emirates to make their feelings about the ownership clear.

Banners from the heartfelt ('You took our home, we moved; whatever price you demanded, we paid; all for you to sell our soul') to the meme-inspired ('Dear Lord, what a sad little life Kroenke…') proved beyond doubt that this week has brought years of bubbling ill-feeling about the Kroenke family to boiling point.

Crucially, the protesters cannot be written off as a vocal minority. They have the backing of influential Arsenal figures in the media - Ian Wright, for one, who used his position on DAZN to say: "I stand with them. KSE are not fit to run or own the club.

"We've heard Josh Kroenke say they won't be selling the club and I wouldn't expect them to - it's a massive cash cow - but it has to be done under different terms. The sooner we get him out, which will be tough, the better."

To Mikel Arteta's credit, he did not use the events outside the ground as an excuse for the latest flat performance in a season best described as mediocre.

"No, we knew that that was happening," he said of the protests.

"We knew that our fans wanted to express their feelings and we made preparations with that in mind. That's not an excuse.

"Now my biggest challenge as well is to get them in the stadium as quick as possible inside the stadium and show that passion, that togetherness and unity with the team because the team is desperate for them to be together with us."

It is perhaps ambitious for Arteta to expect 'togetherness and unity' from the support after a week which has seen the club's hierarchy seek to divide and rule like never before.

But the energy from the fans on Friday night was heartening and needs to continue when fans are allowed back into the stadium for good.

Whether the form picks up or not - which seems unlikely any time soon - pressure must continue to be applied so that the ownership are aware just how grossly they have misread the situation this week.

As for the game itself, it was largely indistinguishable from the six home defeats that preceded it. Dull, listless, little or no goal threat and a sloppy goal conceded.

Arsenal will have to be so much better against Unai Emery's Villarreal on Thursday night if something is to be salvaged from this shipwreck of a campaign - don't hold your breath.

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