Former England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has urged Arsenal supporters to step up their backing during the club’s stuttering Premier League title push.
The Gunners’ hopes of ending a 22-year wait for the title suffered a blow after a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday. The result leaves City three points behind with a game in hand against Burnley FC, increasing pressure on Mikel Arteta’s side with five matches left.
Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, Rooney criticised the reaction of home fans following Arsenal’s recent dip in form, including boos after the 2-1 loss to Bournemouth earlier this month.
“I think the Arsenal fans need to be better,” Rooney said.
“I saw them booing the team off the other day [against Bournemouth]. Arsenal have been brilliant all season, but they’ve hit a slight bad run of form.
“They need to understand how much the fan support means to the players and how much it can help them.
“The players will have put so much work in day in day out on the training pitch to be in the position they’re in now, so when you lose a game and you get booed off, that can affect players.
“I think for Arsenal to win the league, the Arsenal fans need to play their part.”
Arsenal led the table for 248 days during the 2022-23 campaign before finishing second, and memories of that collapse appear to be fuelling anxiety among supporters.
Rooney believes strong backing from the stands could make the difference during the run-in.
“Of course, they want to win the league and they’re desperate to win the league, but I think they need to understand they’ve got a role to play,” he added.
He pointed to the atmosphere at Manchester United FC in recent seasons under managers Eric ten Hag and Ruben Amorim as an example of sustained backing during difficult periods.
“They were constantly singing and getting behind the team and very rarely booed the team off,” he said.
“Arsenal have been top of the league all season, they’re in the Champions League semi-finals and they lose against Bournemouth and they get booed off?
“The fans need to be better for the players and back the players a little bit more because that will have hurt the Arsenal players, 100%.”
