Thierry Henry launches staunch defence of Mikel Arteta in Arsenal rant about style of play
Thierry Henry has defended Mikel Arteta on French radio.(Image: RMC Sport)
Thierry Henry has leapt to the defence of Mikel Arteta, hitting back at criticism of Arsenal's style of play. Since replacing Unai Emery in the dugout at the Emirates Stadium in December 2019, the Spaniard has transformed the Gunners into one of the most feared teams in the world.
Last season, Arteta helped Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. The 44-year-old also led the Gunners to the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years, only losing to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.
Despite his success in north London, Arteta has been heavily scrutinised for his brand of football. Ever since Arsenal lost their first title race under the Spaniard back in 2023, falling short of Manchester City by five points, he's worked hard to make his side far more difficult to beat.
In recent years, the Gunners have been accused of being over-reliant on set-pieces. During an appearance on French radio station RMC Sport, Henry was quizzed on Artea's time in charge.
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"It’s not that it annoyed me, it’s that at one point it took Mikel three-and-a-half, four years to be competitive, more or less," said the Arsenal legend, as quoted by the Metro. "It’s not easy to create a team, but the leaders believed in him and gave him time, and he’s shown he’s a good coach.
"Now, we were known for not being combative, that teams could just walk all over us, do whatever they wanted, but we play football. That was the discussion about Arsenal.
"At a certain point, you’ve got to get ahead of Liverpool and City, so the guy [Arteta] is working, he’s trying to find a way to overtake City. Suddenly, we’re tough, we dominate, it’s hard to create chances against us, we don’t get walked all over, but now they are saying they are not playing pretty."
Henry continued: "For me, it had been a long time since the team won the league, so at some point, you have to find a way to actually win it. Listen, I understand the debate, it’s not about that, but at a certain point, when you know that’s just how we play, that’s our profile… let’s stop with the question."
Arsenal averaged just 24.7 per cent possession when they faced PSG in Budapest back in May, and showed little to no guile in the final third. Henry said: "People kept asking me if I was surprised by our approach in the Champions League final. I said, ‘No.
"They did that all the time through the year. Maybe not all year round, but against teams of this calibre. But it’s not malicious, it’s just a method of operating. I’ve seen teams win everything playing like that; I’ve seen teams win by playing well.
Mikel Arteta during Arsenal's defeat to Brighton.(Image: Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
"So at one point, I didn’t understand the debate. If you watch our team play, and generally away from home, we’re solid, we don’t concede much, the goals we do let in usually come from specific plays, so there you go.
"But then you lose 3-0 against Brighton, and they don’t defend. It means they did something exceptional; it was the first time in, I don’t know how long, that Arsenal conceded three and didn’t score.
"You don’t have to love it, but you must respect him. He brought back a title; I respect that. Perhaps it’s not in the same style, not all of the time, but for a while, teams in Europe didn’t like playing against Atletico Madrid – that’s us.
"The teams don’t like playing against Arsenal. At one point, over four or five years, it was, ‘oh no, it’s Atletico, it’s going to be hard to score’."
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