Arsène Wenger has rebuked Thierry Henry over his former protégé’s claim that he had never heard the Arsenal supporters as angry as they were at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night during the 2-1 defeat by Swansea City.
Wenger responded that Henry, the club’s record goalscorer, was in no position to judge the mood from his seat in an executive box. Henry has been coaching at Arsenal’s academy since returning to the club last year, with ambitions to be a manager.
Wenger was asked whether Henry’s comments were unhelpful before a crucial north London derby at White Hart Lane today that will affect both teams’ title ambitions. “I would like not to comment and I say to people what I think face to face,” Wenger said. “Look, Thierry Henry will not play [against Spurs] for Arsenal. His comments are like any other comments, they cannot help us to win, nor be an excuse to lose. Thierry Henry has his opinions. He has not found the measurement of 60,000 fans’ anger because he sits in the best seats in the stadium.”
Wenger turned Henry from a winger to lead the line when Arsenal lifted the title at White Hart Lane in 2004 in probably the biggest previous derby meeting in the league. Henry, who spent eight seasons at the club, was surprisingly named captain a year later and returned for a second spell on loan in 2012.
The Frenchman conceded that he sensed supporters’ unrest inside the Emirates Stadium after a third consecutive defeat.
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“You cannot say they were never as angry as that,” he said. “Who can measure that? Who can compare that? Do you want your fans to be happy to lose a game? So, it doesn’t look to me as a major statement. Our fans are unhappy, I am unhappy, we’re all unhappy and if you were in our dressing room after the game you would see that we were absolutely devastated to lose. The players, nobody moved for minutes and minutes. We have to provoke the positive reaction from the fans and that’s our job.”
His problems mounted when Petr Cech, the goalkeeper, was ruled out for between three and four weeks with a calf strain that he suffered in the defeat by Swansea. Wenger explained that Cech had a groin issue before the game but trusted him to play, only to see Cech pick up a different injury.
“We had to make the decision before the game because he had a little groin problem but he declared himself 100 per cent fit,” Wenger said. “Then you have to trust the player. He’s 33 years old and he knows his body. If he says he’s fit, then he is available.
David Ospina will deputise for Cech today and in the upcoming matches — an FA Cup fifth-round replay away to Hull City and a Champions League tie in Barcelona. The Colombia goalkeeper was criticised after a big mistake in the Champions League defeat by Olympiacos this season but Wenger said: “I have complete confidence in David and I’m not worried at all on that front.”
Wenger responded to criticism from Mauricio Pochettino, his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart, who suggested that Arsenal’s experience in title races was not proving a telling factor. Arsenal trail their rivals by three points, compared with being four points above them at the same stage last season.
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“They have made progress, yes,” he said of Tottenham. “Now this is crunch time in the last ten games and we will see.” Wenger suggested that perhaps Tottenham have benefited from the top teams having fewer points than at the same stage last season.