Arsenal legend Thierry Henry responds to Mikel Arteta criticism ahead of Atletico clash

The Gunners have endured a difficult April as their hopes of winning an unprecedented quadruple have ended, having failed in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Arsenal's Premier League title hopes have also faded, with Man City to win the race if they take maximum points from their remaining matches (and finish with a greater goal difference).

Artetaâ˜s side have the welcome distraction of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, though.

The Arsenal boss will come under immense pressure if they fail to win a single trophy this season, and he has also faced criticism over his overly "pragmatic" style of play.

But Henry has encouraged Arsenal supporters to "accept" Arteta's way of playing.

"Atletico lost at The Emirates, I think it was 4-0 in the league phase, which doesn't tell you a lot but it tells you it's a game where we created, actually," Henry told CBS Sports.

"But it will be different. The win, Arsenal against Newcastle, in terms of how we played wasn't outstanding but it's way better to go into that game with a win against Newcastle.

"So let's see what's going to happen tomorrow. It's not so much what I want to see, people are expecting or wanting Arsenal to play a certain way now, they didn't the whole year. Why do you want them now to just go forward and start to create?

"They play a certain way, Mikel Arteta plays a certain way, we're strong on set-pieces, solid, we don't create a lot.

"I would just like to see a win, that will do for me and bring something to The Emirates.

"You have to be pragmatic sometimes. You cannot always be Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain, we play a different way. I think people have to accept the fact that Mikel Arteta goes about the game like that and hopefully we can win."

Arsenal and Arteta have arguably been made to look worse by the remarkable football on show during PSG's extraordinary 5-4 win against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

And despite defending Arsenal, Henry has acknowledged how much he enjoyed the "crazy" game between PSG and Bayern Munich.

"Risks. We've been talking about how we watch a lot of teams that do not take any risks," Henry added on PSG vs Bayern Munich.

"Wingers that don't dribble, people that don't go forward [and] they're thinking about not losing the game instead of winning it.

"Well, tonight, we have plenty of risk situations at times.

"Maybe if you think about (it and) if you have your defensive hat on, you'll go crazy on some stuff that you might see or (what) you saw tonight. But I don't care.

"You know what, we've been complaining for more than one year or one-and-a-half or two years that football is 'boring' in brackets and whatnot.

"That game wasn't boring. And again, if you put your professional hat on, we're gonna have to analyse some stuff about the goals that were conceded.

"But you know what? I enjoyed myself and I think everybody at home enjoyed themselves.

"It's just crazy, as you said, that's a score you see normally on aggregate at the end of a tie.

"You saw that, it was just crazy at times." 

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