Thierry Henry has defended Mikel Arteta’s tactical shift at Arsenal, arguing the priority is ending the club’s 22-year wait for a league title. Speaking on Monday Night Football, the club legend said Arteta was “asked to find a way, and he has,” with Arsenal sitting nine points clear at the top of the table while having played a game more than second-placed Manchester City.
Critics have pointed to Arsenal’s growing reliance on set-pieces — which have accounted for more than a third of their goals this season — and questioned whether the side’s football has lost the expansive sparkle of earlier campaigns, despite more than £250m spent largely on attacking recruits. Henry acknowledged fans might not like the methods but urged respect for results. “I don’t have to like it as an Arsenal fan, but I surely respect it,” he said. “After 22 years, I’m not saying that we’re going to win the league but no matter how they’re going to do it, I’m going to respect it. We asked Mikel Arteta to find a way, he did. It’s as simple as that. I want to win the league, it’s been 22 years.”
Henry highlighted how the team has learned to secure matches they previously might have lost. “For a very long time, Arsenal have been accused of being boys. Not being able to keep a lead, getting bullied. Can they win ugly? That’s exactly what the team is doing, and mastering that.” He noted that while supporters and pundits have questioned whether the club has abandoned the style associated with Arteta’s early years, effectiveness should matter more than aesthetics: “Now that they are doing it, people are not happy about it.”
Statistically Arsenal now boast the tightest defensive record of Arteta’s tenure, but they are scoring at a slower rate than in 2022/23 and 2023/24 when their play was lauded for being more expansive and less reliant on set-piece goals.
Henry also questioned whether the idea of an immutable “Arsenal way” is overly tied to past eras such as Arsène Wenger’s or George Graham’s. “What is the Arsenal way? My way? George Graham? What is it? … Arsenal won under Graham and Wenger. What’s the issue here?”
He drew parallels with José Mourinho’s pragmatic Chelsea side that won the Premier League in 2004/05, a team often criticised for being unattractive but praised for getting results. “Frank Lampard finished that season as their top goalscorer with 13 goals,” Henry said. “They were very difficult to beat, outstanding on the break. Everyone praised Mourinho and Chelsea, and rightly so. They found a way to stop the duo. So well done.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher backed the notion that Arteta’s adaptability is a mark of managerial quality. Carragher praised Arteta’s evolution from a coach perceived as following Pep Guardiola’s methods into one willing to adopt a more pragmatic, Mourinho-like approach when necessary. He pointed to a change in recruitment since the season Arsenal finished second and were thumped by Manchester City, noting the club has since signed players with a more physical profile to add power and strength to the squad.
Both voices underlined the same point: while stylistic debates will continue, the current emphasis at Arsenal is on winning — by whatever means proves most effective.