Rallying cry for all Gooners against Sunderland

For those of you lucky enough to be in attendance at the Emirates today, I can’t explain to you how important it is for 90 minutes that you put your nerves to one side and be the 12th man.

Since returning to the club, one of the biggest things Mikel Arteta has improved is the atmosphere at our ground. Yet in the last few months, it’s gone back to the days of it not taking a lot for anxiety to creep around the stadium. That’s what Sunderland will be saying in their dressing room this weekend. The longer they stay in the game, the more anxious the environment becomes, with it not guaranteed that we have enough leaders to respond.

The importance of the crowd

Arsenal charges a lot for a ticket, and I don’t feel comfortable telling anyone how to support their team. As a customer, you have a right to express yourself if you don’t feel you’re getting value for money. Yet we all want the same thing – the Gunners to be champions – and if our young squad is crippled by a fear of failure, then it’s counterproductive for them to look to the stands and see 60,000 faces lacking empathy. It’s not a criticism towards our players or Gooners. When something special is close to being achieved, not done in decades, it’s a natural human reaction for nerves to be apparent. It’s not meant to be easy; if it were, we wouldn’t have waited 22 years.