KEEP IT SHUT, THIERRY
Furious Wenger tells Henry to stop whining from the posh seats
ARSENE WENGER yesterday hit back at Thierry Henry’ s claim that Arsenal fans have never been as angry as they were following Wednesday’s shock 2-1 home defeat by Swansea.
The players and manager were booed off by their own supporters as they missed the chance to close the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Leicester City.
Henry, who attended the match and is a regular at the club’s training ground due to his coaching role with the academy, was scathing in his criticism.
But Wenger questioned his ability to gauge the supporters’ mood, saying: ‘Thierry Henry has his opinions. He has not found the measurement of the fans’ angryness, of 60,000 people straight away, because he sits in the best seats of the stadium.’
Wenger’s comments are reminiscent of Roy Keane’s rant in 2000, when the then Manchester United captain said Old Trafford supporters who had a ‘few drinks’ and ‘prawn sandwiches’ didn’t know what was going on out on the pitch.
Arsenal’s record goalscorer had written in The Sun: ‘I have never heard the Arsenal supporters as angry as they were on Wednesday. They were less patient than I have ever known, booed one of the manager’s substitutions and groaned every time a pass went astray or a tackle was lost.’
The row between Arsenal’s record goalscorer and their greatest- ever manager came on the eve of today’s crucial north London derby against second- placed Tottenham. The Gunners, in third position, trail their rivals by three points, with Mauricio Pochettino’s team three points behind Leicester, and defeat for Wenger’s side could prove a fatal blow to their title hopes.
To make matters worse for the Frenchman, he will be without his first- choice goalkeeper Petr Cech, who will miss up to a month with a groin injury, and his best defender Laurent Koscielny for the short trip up Seven Sisters Road. The smart money is on a Tottenham victory.
Wenger, however, was at his combative best as he sought to stem the growing feeling that his kingdom is collapsing around him.
‘They have made progress, yes,’ he admitted of Spurs, albeit reluctantly. ‘But now this is crunch time. In the last 10 games, we will see. That’s why maybe everybody has a big interest in the game.’
It was classic Wenger mind games. Will Pochettino fall for it, though? With a chance to go top at West Ham on Wednesday ni g ht, Spurs stumbled, slipping to a 1-0 defeat.
Another loss today and the jury would be out. The old accusations of Spurs being all style and no substance would resurface. But you get the sense that the Argentine won’t fall for Wenger’s dark arts.
‘Finishing above Arsenal? I don’t think like that now,’ he said. ‘For me, it’s important to finish well and try to be on the top and be ambitious. If from there we are above them, it’s good, too.
‘We don’t want to compare with them. Our motivation is to win every game. Sometimes it’s difficult to win every match. We are not a machine.’
However, Spurs striker Harry Kane cranked up the pressure on Arsenal by admitting his team are feeding off their rivals’ recent poor form.
He recalled the buzz last weekend when Tottenham came from behind to beat Swansea and Arsenal’s defeat by Manchester United flashed up on the big screen at White Hart Lane.
‘You see when the Arsenal scoreline comes up and everyone has a big roar,’ said Kane. ‘You feel that energy around the stadium. The more they lose and the more we win, it’s going to be better for us.’