Arsenal underlined their title credentials by defeating old rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby, but Thierry Henry gave his opinion on their chances of winning silver.
Thierry Henry told Arsenal’s dressing room after the memorable win against Tottenham to “be honest” about his title ambitions. Mikel Arteta’s side extended their advantage at the top of the table with Sunday’s big win.
Ebelesi Eze scored a hat-trick, while Leandro Trossard was also on the scorer’s list. The win made the Gunners clear favorites to win the trophy.
And after many failed attempts over the past few years, Henry has ordered his former team to stop acting like the underdogs and instead live up to the rewards of the favorites.
“At some point you have to accept it. People are talking about the process. They don’t believe in the process anymore. It’s happening. We have to be honest,” the Frenchman said on Sky Sports.
“We put ourselves in a situation where we believed we had the best team. Did I mention the players who weren’t playing? Look at how we played. We don’t have to complain about one or two more.”
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“So we need to make sure we can win the league. I’m not saying they’re going to win it, but we need to act like we’re the favorites.
“Accept it. I’m not the one trying to put pressure on you. If we come back in the summer, we’ll say, ‘Let’s stop fooling around.’ This year we need a performance that makes people afraid of us. It’s not about being cocky.”
Arsenal manager Arteta was asked about what this weekend did for his side’s chances of winning the league, especially with the loss to Manchester City. He suggested Arsenal are more keen to get back to winning ways after missing out on a vital win before the international break.
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“Yeah, especially after the game against Sunderland where we dropped two points in the last seconds. We had won 10 games in a row so we wanted to get back to winning games.”
Asked what six points difference meant to him, Arteta said: “In this league? It doesn’t really matter.”
Arsenal could potentially widen their lead at the top of the table even further in the next round. They will face German giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek, before facing second-placed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Elsewhere, third-placed Manchester City will face struggling Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium.
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