Rwandan president and longtime Gunners fan Paul Kagame has issued a fierce repudiation of Arsenal after Mikel Arteta’s side were humiliated by newly promoted Premier League side Brentford on Friday night.
Arteta’s side were second-best to a fiercely committed Brentford side, who earned a 2-0 win against the former Premier League champions at the Brentford Community Stadium on Friday night.
Goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard were enough to claim the three points for Thomas Frank’s team who were playing their first game in English football’s top flight in 74 years, heaping massive pressure on Arteta and Arsenal who saw star-signing, the £50 million defender Ben White, struggle against the team who finished third in last season’s Championship.
And one man who was furious at what he saw was the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, a longtime fan of the London club and whose government is one of the official sponsors of the team.
We just must NOT excuse or Accept mediocrity. A team has to be built with purpose to win win win. So that when we lose….it was not to be expected! I am sure we all know on whose shoulders the heaviest burden rests. I hope they know too or even accept it!!! End
— Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) August 13, 2021
“We just must NOT excuse or accept mediocrity,” Kagama, 63, wrote on Twitter.
“A team has to be built with purpose to win win win. So that when we lose….it was not to be expected! I am sure we all know on whose shoulders the heaviest burden rests. I hope they know too or even accept it!!! End.”
The tirade went on.
“What?? It’s football, it’s a loss of Arsenal at/to Brentford. Brentford deserved to win and they did. The game itself aside Arsenal and the fans don’t deserve to kind of get used to this….NO !!! I say this as one of the big fans of Arsenal. The change has taken to long to come!
“It’s been a struggle of about decade(s) -ups & downs- more downs until this point. Can’t we have a plan that really works?? One part to look at is how we deal in the market – players we buy to execute the plan. The touch & go mentality does not bring change.”
What?? It’s football,it’s a loss of Arsenal at/to Brentford. Brentford deserved to win and they did. The game itself aside Arsenal and the fans don’t deserve to kind of get used to this….NO !!! I say this as one of the big fans of Arsenal. The change has taken to long to come!
— Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) August 13, 2021
It’s been a struggle of about decade(s) -ups&downs-more downs until this point. Can’t we have a plan that really works?? One part to look at is how we deal in the market- players we buy to execute the plan. The touch&go mentality does not bring change.
— Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) August 13, 2021
Kagame’s criticism appears to echo much of the narrative surrounding Arsenal at the moment. Spanish boss Arteta faces a season without the prospect of European football after finishing a lowly 8th last campaign – a factor which has caused some considerable concern among the Gunners faithful for the season ahead.
Reports in UK media suggest that skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be headed for the exit door after underwhelming since signing a bumper contract with the club last September – with the formerly prolific frontman managing just ten Premier League goals last season.
Alexandre Lacazette is another whose future appears uncertain, while the club also look set to lose out to Serie A side Roma for the signature of Chelsea outcast Tammy Abraham, a transfer failure made all the more unusual by questions as to Abraham’s suitability in Arteta’s system.
The Rwandan government has been engaged in an occasionally controversial sponsorship deal with Arsenal since 2018, which sees a ‘visit Rwanda’ logo displayed on Arsenal’s jersey.
Critics of the deal – which is worth more than £30 million – say that this money could be better spent in the developing African nation, while government officials maintain that the sum is more than recouped by the tourism money it helps to bring in.
But one wonders if, despite Kagame’s fanhood of the club, there might be better, or more in-form teams, with which to promote his country’s tourism sector rather than Arteta’s band of under-performers.
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