Arsenal have booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals but Thierry Henry has warned Mikel Arteta that they need to raise their game ahead of Sunday's trip to Manchester City
Thierry Henry speaking after Arsenal's goalless draw against Sporting CP
Thierry Henry speaking after Arsenal's goalless draw against Sporting CP(Image: CBS Sports)
View 2 Images
Thierry Henry has warned Mikel Arteta that Arsenal cannot produce a repeat of their showing against Sporting CP if they are to claim a positive result at Manchester City on Sunday.
The Gunners booked their place in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday following a goalless draw with Sporting at the Emirates Stadium. However, it was far from a commanding performance by Arteta's men, who were protecting a 1-0 advantage from the first leg in Lisbon last week, as they managed just ONE effort on target in the second match.
Up next for Arsenal is a crucial top-of-the-table clash at Manchester City on Sunday as the Gunners aim to extend their advantage at the Premier League summit. Arteta's team head to the Etihad Stadium holding a six-point cushion over City, who still have a match in hand and defeated the Gunners 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final last month.
It promises to be a massive afternoon in the battle for the title and Henry has cautioned Arteta that Arsenal need to raise their game against City.
"I want to see that fire at the Etihad," Henry said on 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."
When questioned about how he would tackle the journey to City, Henry responded: "Not like tonight, or against Bournemouth, or Brighton away, or Mansfield, or everything that I've seen this season."
Mikel Arteta watched his side reach another Champions League semi final
Mikel Arteta watched his side reach another Champions League semi final
View 2 Images
Henry was then pressed on whether the display against Sporting would be sufficient to claim all three points against City, prompting him to laugh before saying: "The Man City I've seen recently? We're talking about the team that won four in a row, Liverpool came in between that if not it would have been more.
"I do believe, I've been saying since the beginning of the season, this year I do believe we can win the league, this is the biggest chance in your life just to prove to yourself, as a team, that we can.
"And then people will not talk about the word they want to use that I do not want to use. I do believe personally but I am sitting in a chair for CBS, there's nothing I can do. Now I heard 'fire', I want to see that fire at the Etihad.
"If you have the face of Declan Rice go back to that, at the end of the game I stayed with his face, you had a lot of guys smiling but his face... I don't know, maybe I need to speak to him to know what he had in his head. This is a guy who just went through to the semi-final of the Champions League.
"There's no positive or negative here. We are in a semi-final of a Champions League, well done, that didn't happen a lot in history so obviously I'm over the moon. But City... I want the team to win there, not draw, statement."
Arsenal head to City having endured a difficult spell of form, winning just one of their last five matches across all competitions. Their most recent Premier League outing ended in a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, adding further pressure ahead of the crucial clash.
Content Image
Content Image