Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has thrown his support behind protests against owner Stan Kroenke, telling talkSPORT he was ‘happy’ to see supporters stand up for their club.
Thousands of furious Arsenal fans gathered outside the Emirates Stadium to protest against their American ownership on Friday night, ahead of their 1-0 defeat to Everton.
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Choruses of ‘f*** off Stan Kroenke, get out of our club’ and ‘we want our Arsenal back’ were heard from the crowd, with supporters angry over Kroenke’s involvement in the European Super League breakaway – seen a the final straw after many unhappy years under the American’s reign.
The protests were backed by Gunners legends Ian Wright and Martin Keown, who told talkSPORT the owners ‘see us as fools’.
And the club’s all-time top goalscorer Henry joined his ex-teammates in backing the protests, admitting he was sad he couldn’t join them in person.
“Arsenal fans have spoken, they are not happy and I’m with them,” he said on Monday’s talkSPORT Breakfast.
“I’m a fan, too, and I’m happy with the protests. I couldn’t go, because you can imagine, but I was happy about them.
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“It’s the fans’ club, fans will always decide the future of the club and if fans want things to happen it’s on you, and they were not happy about what’s happening and rightly so.
“At some point enough is enough. You sit there and support the club but then they did what they did with the Super League without consulting anybody, and I was like, ‘wow’.”
Henry admits things are simply not good enough at Arsenal right now.
But he insists the club should not be discredited or ridiculed for winning the Europa League, and urged Mikel Arteta to go all out for the trophy.
Arsenal face Villarreal in the semi-finals of Europe’s secondary competition, with the first-leg in Spain set for this Thursday.
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A possible all-English final could see Arsenal face old rivals Manchester United, with the Red Devils drawn against Roma in their final four clash.
Henry admits Arteta’s side have underperformed this season, but asked about the manager’s goals for the rest of the campaign, he added:
“Listen, I’m a winner, and if we win the Europa League we’re in the Champions League, right?
“But if we talk about the season, the fans have spoken about and have been loud about what is not happening at Arsenal Football Club at the minute.
“I’m never going to have a go at the manager because I’m a manager myself, although I’m not employed at the minute, I know how hard it is to pull the strings and make things happen.
“But at the end of the day, right now Arsenal are underperforming, and that’s not really me saying it, you just have to watch the games.
“If we win the Europa League you can’t say that’s nothing, it is something, it will be success and as we’ll be back in the Champions League which is where we want to be .
“It’s not how any of us would like to arrive there, but it would be great, I’d be over the moon if we can win the Europa League.
“But some stuff is not right at the club right now, and when people are vocal about it you have to be careful, because fans will always decide the future of someone, whether it’s a player, the coach, whatever.”
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