Arsene Wenger has claimed that Arsenal’s struggles in recent years are because they left their soul at Highbury.
Highbury was Arsenal’s home for over 90 years, but its small capacity and limited facilities meant that the Gunners had to move to a bigger Stadium and they moved to the Emirates in 2006.
However, since they moved to their new home, they have struggled to replicate the success of the early years of Wenger’s reign at their former home.
The Frenchman would eventually struggle to win three FA cups for them before he was forced to resign in 2018, after more than 20 years at the helm.
The two managers that the Gunners have named after the Frenchman have continued to struggle with the Gunners and Wenger has revealed that something happened to them when they moved away from Highbury.
He claimed that they failed to recreate the atmosphere that they enjoyed at Highbury when they moved to the Emirates and that has caused them to struggle.
‘You are always in a position when you are a football club to move forward or stay in the past. To compete with the other clubs, we had to build a new stadium. The rules had changed’, Wenger told beIN SPORTS per the Daily Mail.
‘We wanted to create the same as Highbury but we left our soul at Highbury. We could never recreate exactly. We didn’t find exactly the same atmosphere.’
‘For me, Highbury is linked with love. Love for the period I had, the exceptional attitude of the fans, the exceptional football games I witnessed there. It’s a special place in my heart’, Wenger added.
‘At the time, we were 40 people there, maximum. Today we are 600. We knew everybody. We have moved from a business family to a big company now.
‘You sit on the touchline. The supporters are very close to the touchline. When you kick a corner you can shake the hand of the first supporter. That makes you all together on the pitch.
‘That togetherness, that warm feeling that you get at Liverpool today, or Everton – that’s what you miss.’
