Thierry Henry has issued a blunt challenge to Mikel Arteta, demanding that Arsenal back up their manager’s claims of internal “fire” when they visit Manchester City this weekend.
Arsenal reached the Champions League semi-finals despite a recent slump that saw them suffer a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, marking their third loss in four matches. Prior to the Sporting CP clash, Arteta demanded “no fear” and “pure fire” from his players to arrest a decline that has seen more defeats in a fortnight than in their first 49 games of the campaign. Still, the subsequent laboured performance in Europe has led club icons to question whether the squad can rediscover their spark in time for Sunday’s pivotal title decider.
Speaking on CBS Sports about the manager’s recent comments, Henry said: “I believe in what he [Arteta] said, I’m a substantial believer. I believe in what I see. I believe in the fire but when you talk like that, you have to do it then. But I didn’t see that tonight. We are through, so happy, semi-final. We never won it, I never won it so I can’t really talk about all of that but I won the league though, go and win at Man City, I desire to see that fire there, I believe Mikel, yes, but show it.”
The lack of spark in the second leg against the Portuguese champions prompted a stern reaction from Henry, who questioned whether the squad currently possesses the clinical edge required for the run-in. Despite being a supporter of Arteta’s project, the Frenchman insisted that the team must now deliver a dominant performance on the pitch.
Henry wants to see more ‘fire’ from Arsenal at Man City. The Gunners booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals after a lifeless 0-0 draw with Sporting on Wednesday evening in what was another unconvincing display from Arteta’s side. Despite advancing to face Atletico Madrid in the last four, the recent results against City in the Carabao Cup final, Southampton in the FA Cup and Bournemouth in the league have done little to show that Arsenal can approach away from The Etihad with a positive outcome.
if Pep Guardiola’s side do triumph on Sunday and then win their game, they will be on level points with the Gunners, who finished as Premier League runners-up for the last three seasons. And, when asked what he wants to see from his former side in the crunch clash, Henry referred back to Arteta’s unhinged press conference ahead of the Sporting game, in which he demanded “fire” from his players.
“I want to see that fire at the Etihad,” Henry told CBS Sports. “That’s what I want to see, it’s easy to talk, go there, at Man City, and deliver. I believe in what I see though, I believe in him Arteta, ‘the fire’, but when you talk like that you have to do it then. I didn’t see that tonight. We are through, so happy, semi-final, I never won it, but I won the league though, go and win at Man City, I want to see that fire there, I believe Mikel, yes, but show it.”
Asked how he would approach the game against City, Henry replied: “Not like tonight, or against Bournemouth, or Brighton away, or Mansfield, or everything that I’ve seen this season….”
