Arsenal need feel-good factor, says Arteta

Playing todayArsenal     vs  West Brom 16:30 SS3    Aston Villa      vs  Stoke City     Southampton vs  Reading     Sunderland      vs  Chelsea     Swansea City vs  Norwich City     Wigan     vs      QPR

Friday, December 07, 2012
Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta has vowed to do all he can to make the fans happier. Net photo.

Playing todayArsenal     vs  West Brom 16:30 SS3    Aston Villa      vs  Stoke City     Southampton vs  Reading     Sunderland      vs  Chelsea     Swansea City vs  Norwich City     Wigan     vs      QPR     LONDON - Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta admits his side desperately need to restore the feel-good factor at the Emirates Stadium with a victory over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.Arsene Wenger’s team are on a miserable run of two wins from their last nine matches in all competitions and, after seven years without a trophy, the club’s fans are growing increasingly frustrated.Before last weekend’s dismal 2-0 home defeat against Swansea, supporters protested against Arsenal’s board for their failure to back Wenger in the transfer market and then unleashed a torrent of abuse at the Gunners boss and his players at the final whistle.Arsenal are currently languishing in 10th place after their worst start to a Premier League season in Wenger’s 16-year reign.And the sense of crisis enveloping the north London outfit was hardly eased in midweek when Wenger sent out a weakened team in the Champions League clash at Olympiakos and saw the Greeks come from behind to claim a 2-1 win that ended Arsenal’s hopes of finishing top of their group.Add in some ill-timed comments from the Gunners’ chief commercial officer Tom Fox, who claimed on Thursday that Arsenal, are not only about winning but also commercial success, and Saturday’s fixture is a potentially volatile one.In the circumstances, a win over West Brom is vital to lift the gloom and Spanish midfielder Arteta has vowed to do all he can to make the fans happier."It’s massive now. Winning two or three games in a row will change the atmosphere,” he said."We want the fans to stay behind us but the fans need us to be on top of our form to get that excitement. We have to give them something now and they will respond, because they love Arsenal as much as we do."They go to the ground to support us, they are not coming to criticise us because they want something bad for us. It is the opposite. (See Saturday Sports Mag for more on the English Premier League-TNT Sports Editor).