Kroenke receives rare praise as ‘sudden change’ behind Arsenal success

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has received rare praise for a major change in approach at the club. Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has highlighted the American as playing a crucial part in the Gunners’ success.

Kroenke has been much-maligned with Arsenal supporters throughout his time at the club. Fans have protested against his ownership since he became a majority shareholder in 2011.

Arsenal’s association with the European Super League in 2021 only worsened matters. Thousands protested outside the Emirates after the Gunners were one of six Premier League clubs to be a part of the proposed league.

Performances on the pitch did not help, and many felt Mikel Arteta and previous managers Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery were not backed sufficiently in the transfer market. But Jordan has noted a change from Kroenke which has helped both his own reputation and Arteta’s team.

Arsenal: Arteta says Kroenkes have apologised for Super League

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Arsenal sit top of the Premier League and are almost nailed on to at least qualify for the Champions League this season, the first time since 2016. Jordan told talkSPORT: “The recruitment of Arteta came with a risk profile attached to it and it gave me a rollercoaster ride of ‘I think he’s got it, no I think he’s all talk’ and now he’s got the groove going because he’s been given time and also a lot of support.

“The change in culture of the ownership after the European Super League has been a massive kick-on. I made the accusation about ‘silent Stan’ that he was running Arsenal like an arms-length subsidiary of his American businesses.

“And all of a sudden, [Daniel] Ek came in after the European Super League, the guy that owns Spotify, and said ‘I’ll buy your football club for £2billion-2.5bn’.

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“And all of a sudden Stan starts to wake up and look at it as ‘this is a proper grown-up football club, this is a proper business, maybe I need to look at it a bit differently, maybe also I’ve alienated myself with the fanbase with my relationship with the European Super League’.

“All of a sudden you’ve seen a change in direction. Josh Kroenke’s been put in there, he’s running the football club on a daily basis with more involvement for the Kroenkes than there’s been there previously, with more money available.

“Edu’s grown into his skin and learnt his trade, and so has Arteta. And all of those things have now combined into a perfect storm.”

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