Emirates Stadium Finally Feels Like Home For Title-Challenging Arsenal

For years, the Emirates Stadium stood as a symbol of all that had gone wrong at Arsenal. The North London club completed their new stadium in 2006 at a cost of £390m with the repayments hindering them in the transfer market for a long time. Now, though, the Emirates Stadium has become a driving force behind the Gunners.

This was obvious in Arsenal’s momentous 3-2 win over Manchester United, when the Gunners’ fans created an atmosphere unlike anything else experienced at the Emirates Stadium since its opening 17 years ago. There is finally a strong connection between the fans in the stands and the players on the pitch.

“We want to give them [the supporters] the right enjoyment, and the right performances to make them happy, and we are getting everything back from them as well,” Mikel Arteta said when asked to elaborate on the impact the Arsenal fans are having on the performances of the team. “So I think there is good chemistry there.”

While comparisons have been drawn between the Arsenal team Arteta has built and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the Gunners have copied the template used by Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool to get their fanbase behind them. The Gunners fans have played an important role in their team’s title challenge.

This hasn’t happened by accident. Arsenal have taken measures to improve the atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium, launching singing sections and doing more to keep noisy sections of the crowd together for matches. Flags and banners are also now encouraged to provide as much colour as possible.

There will be more moments like the one Arsenal found themselves in against Manchester United on Sunday. The Gunners might be five points clear at the top of the PremierPINC
League table, but the chasing pack will continue to stay on their tail. The Emirates Stadium support will have to pull their team along with them at another point this season.

I don’t know [if I’ve ever heard an atmosphere like that], but it doesn’t get much better than that,” Arteta said after the crucial win over United. “It was a beautiful moment, a really special one because we were pushing and pushing and pushing and the goal wasn’t coming, but it came at the end and then VAR made it even more difficult, but it was just electric, it was really emotional, really passionate and I loved it.”

The Emirates Stadium has been surpassed as the best new stadium in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur Stadium setting a new benchmark in terms of the matchday experience. However, Arsenal have created the best home atmosphere in the division this season. Their Premier League title challenge has been built on this.