Mikel Arteta was a happy man after Arsenal booked their place in the semi-final of the Champions League.
The Gunners held onto their 1-0 first-leg lead against Sporting CP at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night with a performance that didn’t convince many people.
Declan Rice said he doesn’t care what people think, which is the right mentality, but when Thierry Henry talks, everyone at Arsenal listens.
Mikel Arteta, however, is of the opposite opinion to what the legendary Frenchman said after Arsenal got past Sporting CP.
Who was your Man of the Match vs Sporting CP?
Mikel Arteta disagrees with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry
There is a lot of scrutiny on everything Arsenal say or do at the moment.
The Gunners are on top of the Premier League table and also among the favourites to win the Champions League in May.
Usually, such a team would be showered with praise, but all Arsenal have faced this season, especially in recent weeks, is criticism.
Before the clash against Sporting, Arteta claimed that he was on ‘fire’ and said that he expects the same from his players.
After the game, Henry claimed that he saw no fire in anyone at Arsenal despite getting the job done. Arteta, however, disagreed.
When asked if he saw the fire in his players, the Arsenal boss said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “100 per cent! Especially, I saw it in moments of difficulty, when we give the ball away in circumstances that are not very much like us.
“How willing everybody is… Declan Rice yesterday was shattered; he had no chance to play today, he wasn’t feeling good at all. Today, he played 94 minutes at the level that he’s done. Piero Hincapie the same.
“Every single player is putting everything on the line to contribute, to give his best, and I really value that from the team.”
Simple question: How do Arsenal win the Champions League from here?
Through to the semi-finals, but the performance was not good enough…
Arsenal deserve praise for their performance against Sporting CP
Arsenal weren’t anywhere near their best against Sporting CP.
The Gunners lacked cohesion in attack, failed to create many chances and just weren’t clinical enough with their actions in the final third.
However, Arsenal went into the game with three losses in their last four games and were under immense pressure to get the job done.
They did just that by keeping a clean sheet against a side that had scored 22 goals in the Champions League this season.
Arsenal did what they had to do in difficult circumstances, so they deserve praise. However, as Rice said, the players shouldn’t care if people resort to criticism because that’s what they always do.
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