Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal have been “soulless” since moving into the Emirates Stadium.
The former Gunners boss oversaw the move to take the club away from Highbury after 93 years in 2006.
Arsenal’s success has dried up since the move, with just three FA Cups in 13 seasons.
And Wenger believes the lack of atmosphere compared to Highbury has contributed to this.
“We built a new stadium but we never found our soul -- we left our soul at Highbury,” Wenger told beIN Sport.
“We could never recreate it for security reasons. The distance from the pitch to the stand had to be bigger as we needed ambulances to come in.
“The inclination of the stands had to be smaller all those things together that we didn’t find to recreate the atmosphere.”
Wenger, speaking alongside Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, who is looking to match Wenger’s achievement of guiding a team to an unbeaten season, hailed the Reds’ home form, with no league defeat at Anfield since April 2017.
“[Anfield] is the best stadium in England,” Wenger said. “It’s simple because the people are so close to the pitch. People really love football in every family, they are football connoisseurs.
“I’ve been in positions there where I’ve been leading 5-1 with five minutes to go and they were chanting ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’ It’s one of the few cities, maybe the only city in the world where you find that.
“I moved from Highbury [with Arsenal], it was a bit similar to Anfield, if not the same.”
