Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has spoken out about the club’s recent shortcomings, insisting that supporters are right to question Mikel Arteta after yet another campaign without silverware.
On Sunday 25 May, Arsenal concluded their 2024–25 season with a 2–0 win over Southampton, securing second place in the Premier League for the third year in a row. But while consistent, the Gunners once again fell short in their pursuit of major honours, both domestically and in Europe.
Arteta’s side came agonisingly close to a first Champions League final since 2006, only to fall at the semi-final stage. Coupled with the league disappointment, Arsenal’s growing “nearlymen” reputation continues to raise eyebrows, especially as the Spaniard has not lifted a major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, his only piece of silverware so far.
Henry: “You should expect trophies by now”
Speaking to the BBC, Henry offered a measured but pointed reflection on Arsenal’s failure to get over the line.
“I’m not saying that I’m disappointed with Arsenal, but it’s normal that people are raising questions now about what the team is doing,” said the Frenchman.
“I understand that at the very beginning you arrive and it’s not your team. You need at the very least three or four transfer windows to change everything. It takes time, and you have to give a manager time to implement what he wants.
“But for the last three years, Arsenal have been in a situation where they should have at least brought one cup or reached a final.”
Henry then compared Arsenal’s record to Manchester United, who, despite their own issues, have reached five finals and won two trophies in the past five years.
“That’s the United everyone laughs at,” Henry noted, “but Arsenal haven’t reached a single final in the last three years of building. So yes, people will rightly ask, ‘Shouldn’t you be competing for trophies?’”
Has Arteta done enough?
While Arteta has undoubtedly transformed the club, turning Arsenal from mid-table also-rans into genuine contenders, it’s clear that fans and former players alike now expect more than progress alone.
When the Spaniard first arrived, the squad was unbalanced, ageing, and easy to beat. Arsenal missed out on European football altogether in his first two full seasons. But since then, they’ve become a formidable force in both the Premier League and Europe.
Even so, football is ultimately about winning. And as Henry suggests, if Arsenal want to be seen as elite again, they must start turning progress into trophies.
So the question remains: If Arteta doesn’t deliver silverware next season, should the club consider moving on?
BENJAMIN KENNETH
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Arteta is not entirely to blame. It’s the owners who failed to buy the players he needed. However his option for players like Havertz to replace Xhaka in a team that had played fluently was disastrous plus his inability to find the right left back and center forward all contributed to mess up things.
Let’s hope this campaign is different.
Rice should contribute 20 goals minimum.
Moving Skelley to midfield would win us the league. But it’s going to be crowded there with the arrival of Zubimendi.
We badly need another option in Martinelli’s position.
Let’s not blame the owners. They have backed Arteta very well. But I feel like it’s up to him to unleash the players / squad.
The owners are 100% not to blame.
If we had bought a striker, we would have beaten PSG in the Champions League. All the European cups this season were meant for British clubs. Can you imagine that Tottenham, of all teams, managed to win the Europa League? If our manager were not so egocentric and stubborn, we would be preparing for the finals right now. We would also be competing with Liverpool until the last day of the season. We desperately needed a striker to support our depleted squad in January, but Arteta had too much confidence in himself.
I think that depends which striker we brought in. I don’t think Watkins would have added much to the team. We already have one speed merchant who cant finish. I don’t think Sesko would have adapted to our system quick enough if he was a January purchase and Gykores would have been the one that maybe could have seen us through. Isak or Osimhen could potentially have been great options.
You know who else has said previously that we should have won trophies? Mikel Arteta. The manager himself demands a lot from himself and his players, that’s why I’m confident it’s just a matter of time before we win something big.
I don’t see anything wrong with what Henry said. It’s the right mentality to demand for better. To this extent, even the players and manager will agree with him.
That said, lots of things need to come together to win it all – from the owners, the coaches, the players, the fans and even a bit luck regarding injuries, decisions and other teams underperforming. It probably sounds like a broken record by now but I hope next season is the season everything comes together to reward all the progress and hard work.
Arteta is the manager at Arsenal so of course he needs to say this.
However, Henry’s comments are a rather cheap shot as he knows the history of the club and what hampered the club from being amongst the very best for so many years. Even now, it’s not as if we have outspent every other team.
The club has been rebuilding whilst competing against some of the best teams in world football. It’s not like a rebuild at a RM or PSG where they can dominate almost every other club in their league.
I agree with the latter parts of your comments. We are now amongst the best in the world so a few more additions should increase our chances of major silverware.
I agree that we definitely underachieved because we should have won more than the one FA cup since 2020.
But let’s see how we do this coming season.
I do think it might be the make or break season for Arteta. We have got to win the League or Champions league or the fanbase and squad will start getting disgruntled : frustrated.
I hope Arteta is more braver in our approach. Relax a bit and let the players attack freely.
🤞🤞🙏
So near but yet so far
If only had Arsenal had a striker as the legendary Frenchman
In January Arteta was crying loud and clear that his team was short upfront as a result of injuries to Havetz and Jesus.
That a striker was not bought during that window could therefore not have been due to his negligence or naivety; it has to be the owners not providing the resources.
Arsenal have under-achieved under Arteta. Period. To be fair, he should be fired on the spot, but we are a generous club.
So here is the deal: the first ten games into the next season should be a fair evaluation point. If team performance doesn’t improve in a big way, Arteta has to go.
Let the search for a Plan B manager begin.
I wonder if club legend Thierry Henry would be interested. Hmm.
I bloody hope not
Great, great player but his record as a manager is worse than you think Arteta is
I take him in a heartbeat
Good for you Dan. Any particular reason why?
The romantic In me lol
😂
So you supported Arteta’s appointment six years ago (an average ex-player with no management experience) but wouldn’t Henry ‘s (a club legend with considerable experience at the highest levels in the game). Strange.
Have you read his record RFrancis?
If Arteta needs replacing then at least go for someone who’s clearly better. My opinion anyway
😁
Uuuumh !!!!!
Many stupid comments. They didn’t buy a striker in January because the best was not available. Buy a second rate striker in Jan and the money for the best in the summer is gone. Of course Arteta wanted a striker but he wanted the right one. If you want to win you have to aim for the best. Second best isn’t good enough
They could have got someone on loan who was better then what we had or very least gave us an alternative off the bench
Dan
Do you still believe that it was realistically possible to catch Liverpool once the injury to Havertz took place? Or more accurately , after Jesus in mid January? The Havertz injury was the final straw and loaning one attacking player was unlikely to be enough to bridge the gap anyway.
Helping isn’t the same as being enough to win on two fronts
I truthfully don’t know Sue
But I know doing nothing gave us no chance
Your admit I wrote that at the time so I’m not being wise after the event
But yes there were players who could have helped
Club simply have no ambition
I wrote that window will haunt him forever
It’s the reason he starts next season under pressure
The “how tall” part got me 😂. Seriously we need to stop fussing about this (the league especially) and get the title over the the line, been a hard time recently TBH. I do think UCL is within reach too but we haven’t won that in our entire history so that in particular needs something special (squad depth,quality and of course chemistry) to dominate.