Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told Football.London that he would love to see fans outside the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.
The Gunners return to Europa League action as they play the second leg of their crucial semi-final clash with Villarreal.
Arsenal are 2-1 down from the first leg, and need to overturn that deficit to make it through to the final in Gdansk.
Thursday’s game is back in North London, and fans have been planning to gather outside the Emirates Stadium to welcome their team.
We’ve seen Liverpool do this many times in the past, whilst Manchester City fans swarmed their team bus before last night’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Boss Arteta was asked about this idea earlier today, and suggested that it would be ‘great’ to see fans gathering to support Arsenal before their huge game.
“I think that would be great,” said Arteta. “We’ve been missing them so much, we need them. If the players feel like they are right behind them, supporting them, again I think it’s only the 10th time the club have played a European semi final so it’s a big moment for us. Hopefully we can have them closer than we’ve had already in the last few months,” he added.
Arsenal fans gathered before the recent 1-0 home defeat to Everton, but that was in protest against owner Stan Kroenke.
Fans were angry then, but this would hopefully be a much different atmosphere, focusing on supporting the team on the pitch rather than rallying against the owners off it.
The global pandemic is always a concern, but it’s clear that Arteta is keen to have that extra support and momentum from the fans, who can hopefully help take Arsenal into the final.
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