Arsenal legend praises 'present' Kroenke family following years of fan fracture
Arsenal legend Gilberto Silva has praised the club's owners, the Kroenkes, for being more "present" and helping calm tensions following 16 years of turbulent ownership.
For years, Arsenal fans haven't been shy about expressing their feelings over owner Stan Kroenke, with protests not uncommon at games home and away, or on online social media platforms.
Some of the Gunners faithful have had gripes with Kroenke and Co. over a lack of consistency, trophies, and engagement with the club and its fans. For the most part, Kroenke has been a phantom-like figure.
In recent seasons, however, Arsenal's ownership hasn't been shy to splash the cash and back manager Mikel Arteta. They've bankrolled the Spaniard to the tune of £586 million since he took over and owner Stan Kroenke's son, Josh, has taken a more hands-on approach as a director at the club, working closely alongside sporting director, Edu.
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Perhaps the shift has to do with the fact that Arsenal are the only club in Kroenke's sports team portfolio not to win a league title. The Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, MLS' Colorado Rapids, Lacrosse's Colorado Mammoth, and Arsenal Women have all won their respective divisions. Undoubtedly, the handsome riches on offer from Premier League and Champions League football play a part too, with the club's worth rising yearly.
"What I've noticed is the owners are more present in the club," Arsenal Invincible Silva told Mirror Sport at the Web Summit in Lisbon, where he was promoting his new hate-free football social media platform, Striver, alongside CEO Tim Chase and fellow Brazilian legend, Roberto Carlos, which uses AI technology to moderate abusive content before it appears on the site.
"You see them around in the Emirates, during pre-season in America, they wore [Arsenal] clothes. But they come to London, they are there in the stadium from time to time, and not spending so much time elsewhere, which is important for the fans to see they own the club, they care about the club, they care about the fans and what they expect. Also to keep the club at a very high level, competitively, but also the culture of the club."
Gilberto Silva has praised Arsenal's owners' change in strategy (Getty)Silva remains close with Arsenal chief Edu and visits Arsenal's facilities from time to time. He says people are a lot happier than they have been in recent years.
"When I go to the club, what I see when I speak to people, they're very happy because there's a continuation of the Arsenal culture," he continued. "At some point, it wasn't very strong but now they're very happy. This is my perception about when I go there and speak to people. It's nice to hear that."
Last season, the Gunners came close to winning their first league title since the Invincible season of 2003/04.
Arsenal Director Josh Kroenke with Declan Rice of Arsenal after The FA Community Shield win over Manchester City (Getty)Arteta's men led the Premier League for 248 days before crumbling following an intense pursuit by defending champions, Manchester City. It was a necessary learning curve.
Another £200m was spent last summer to have another go, Declan Rice being the most pricey at £105m from West Ham, and the midfielder has started to pay back the transfer fee, earning rave reviews from Arsenal fans and their rivals. Arsenal sit third in the league, level on points with second-place Liverpool, and one point behind City.
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