Henry: Hope Gunners Combine Current Style With Their Approach From Two or Three Years Ago

In the first round of the Champions League league phase, Arsenal will face Napoli away from home. Before the match, Arsenal legend Henry discussed the team's Champions League prospects for the new season and Arteta's style of play on CBS Sports, saying he hopes Arsenal can maintain their stability without the ball while also showing the more proactive attacking performances they had two and a half to three years ago.

Thierry, I want to ask you from a coach's perspective. Arteta has his own way of playing. He won the Premier League title and reached the Champions League final through this approach. In terms of playing style, he has also been criticized for it, but he has indeed achieved success with this method. You just said he still needs to continue evolving.

Evolving, or perhaps combining the two styles.

Yes. How can that be done?

Henry: No, this is just my personal opinion. I said last year that I would accept anything in order to win the title. No matter what style it was or what method was used. Twenty-two years without winning the league title was really too long.

But sometimes, I see people discussing Mikel and the way he manages matches. For example, against Chelsea a few days ago, he chose to protect the scoreline at that moment. That is his way.

So sometimes I do not understand why people are still surprised by the way he manages games. But personally, I hope to see the team combine the way they played two and a half to three years ago with their current performances without the ball.

Ultimately, I said this before and I will say it again now. Looking at the results, without even saying 'on paper,' this is the best season in Arsenal's history. They won the league title and reached the Champions League final. No previous Arsenal team had ever done that. He achieved it in his own way, so no one can say anything about that.

He achieved success last season. I am just saying that now you are champions, and I hope sometimes the team can give us a little more by combining their current style with the style they had two and a half to three years ago.

Last season, Arsenal reached the peak of winning the Premier League title and then lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final. Thierry, how do you think the current Arsenal will start their new European campaign?

I think they will be very confident, especially considering the way Arsenal handle matches away from home. We all know how they are going to play. If you look at Arsenal's match against Aston Villa a few days ago, they were very compact. There were not many chances in the game, but they also did not give their opponents many opportunities and eventually won 1-0. I think their performances at home are much better, especially against Coventry. Against Chelsea, I thought they played well for the first hour, and even more than just 'well.' But in the final 30 minutes, we ended up defending around our own penalty area. However, we did not concede and held on to the 2-1 scoreline.

So we still have to keep watching. We have already seen that some players seem to be returning to the level they had two and a half to three years ago. I can use Odegaard as an example; his goal tally is already double that of last season. Of course, he only scored one goal last season, so achieving that is not too difficult.

However, whether on the show or outside of it, I have always said the same thing. I want to see the team combine the performances from two and a half to three years ago with their current stability without the ball. If there was one team stronger than them in pressing last season, I would say it was probably Paris Saint-Germain. But when a team drops into a low defensive block, I do not think any team can do it better than Arsenal.

I am talking about the way they handle low defensive situations. But sometimes in a match you also need to attack proactively. So I hope this year will be different. Because we have already crossed the hurdle of winning the league title, and now we are champions. Maybe the team will have more of that confidence and feeling of standing tall, saying: 'Let's go, let's play.'

I am also very interested to see how they will play away against Napoli today. But Jamie has always said this: in Champions League away matches, no matter how you win, as long as you get the victory, it is a good win.