Interview

'Fans are the club’s soul, they offer us energy'

The 2021/22 season will be both hugely significant and very special as we welcome fans back en masse to Premier League grounds.

So how much difference does Mikel Arteta expect it to make to his team?

 

"Hopefully [it will be] completely different, it's something we have missed - certainly since I've been here because we haven't had the chance to have them right behind the team and feeling their support on matchdays," our manager told Arsenal Media.

 

"I always said they are the soul of this club and we need them next to it, and the impact they can have, it cannot be quantified. We don't know what it is, but it is so powerful.

 

"We have an advantage over other teams because of the fans and support that we have, we have to use it. We need to really connect with them, they need to engage with the team and embrace it. Afterwards, we will be much better as a team.

 

"I think it's the energy, the positivity, the belief, I think its protection. When you are at that ground, and I experienced this myself at the Emirates, and you feel that support and energy, that is something driving you forward. Then it is not thinking, it is pure passion and love for what you do.

 

"When you in that mode, you think, 'Yeah we are unstoppable, we are much stronger.' It is a sense of protection, the confidence races, and things flow much better. It is a unique feeling, hopefully we can experience every time we are in the ground.

"It is an emotion as well that I want to feel as a manager of the football club and see that connection. I will really feel proud when I see that connection between the supporters and players and both feeling... I would like to use the word 'proud' of what they do for each other."