Arsene Wenger reckons Arsenal fans are being “manipulated” as he readies himself for more protests tomorrow.
Supporters organisations Black Scarf Movement, RedAction and Arsenal Supporters Trust have called for banners to be raised in the 12th and 78th minutes of the game with Norwich saying: “Time for change. Arsenal is stale – fresh approach needed.”
And a series of prominent-figures have also criticised the Gunners who are now out of title contention.
Wenger said: “I can understand the frustration of our fans. But, despite that, they want to support our team. The best chance they can give our team is to be behind our team.
“Some groups of people try to manipulate our fans, and I believe apart from an agenda, a personal agenda, a big ego, there’s not a lot behind it.
“For me, what’s interesting is the quality of the game, the values we want to present. This club is hugely respected and loved all over the world, focused on performing no matter in what circumstances we play.
“The club is in a very strong situation. You want your fans as well to be behind your team.”
Despite another poor season, Wenger reckons Arsenal can finally compete financially with the biggest sides again.
He said: “When you build a stadium, we had five to seven difficult financial years where we had to pay back: we had to be three years in the Champions League out of five and have an average of 54,000 people.
“We didn’t know we would be capable of that. We had to sell our best players every year to survive, but we didn’t do three years out of five in the Champions League. We did five out of five.
“Now the club is in a stronger position and we can compete again with our main opponents. But during that time it was very difficult.”
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