Matches without fans is affecting the players - Mikel Arteta

The coronavirus has ended fans patronage to games and until the virus decline, the situation could still be the same.

Matches without fans is affecting the players - Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta has admitted that the absence of fans at match venues affects players motivation during games.

According to him, players are lacking the purpose of winning games due to the fact that fans who act as a measure of their performance are missing and their non-participation leaves the boys nothing to cheer for.

"It is definitely affecting the players," Mikel Arteta told ArsenalTV.

"Now, for example with the lockdown: you win at Old Trafford, you feel excited, your adrenaline is really high, you go home and you want to celebrate, you want to do something, but you just go home, by yourself - some of the players live by themselves - and you go home, sit on the sofa, and that's it. 

"To find that purpose and say, 'Okay, I work so hard for this moment, I want to enjoy it, I want to have people around me' but you have nothing, so it is a completely different life. 

The coronavirus has reformed the structure of football for eight months since fans were banned from witnessing games to prevent the virus from escalating.

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The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson on Wednesday addressed that measures are been put in place to get supporters back to venues.  The tight schedule in the game through the various leagues across Europe to International duties would have been eased should the admirers of the game been there to applaud their cheer on their respective clubs.

Arteta believes the chemistry of the game is gone and until the return of fans, it would be tough for his players to gain the momentum as it used to be.

"In our case, when you try to build a new project you need to engage the fans with the team,” Arteta continued.

“They have to see live what the team is transmitting. It is completely different on the TV, you are not able to do that. 

"Without creating that chemistry between players and fans, for them to believe, for them to see live what we are trying to do, it is complicated. We need that. The players have to feel, 'Wow, these guys are really behind us, they are really pushing, they are liking what we are trying to do... I feel more motivated, more engaged, I want to participate' - and we are lacking that."