LONDON :Arsenal should have some silverware to show for their efforts over the past three seasons, according to the club’s record goalscorer and former captain Thierry Henry.
Former midfielder Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal back into a force since taking charge in 2019 but has delivered just one major trophy during his reign, the FA Cup in 2020.
Arsenal have finished as Premier League runners-up three times in succession, twice pushing Manchester City hard but this time finishing a distant second to Liverpool.
They exited the Champions League semi-finals, having reached the quarter-finals the season before, and were knocked out in the semi-finals of the League Cup.
“I’m not saying that I’m disappointed with Arsenal, but it’s normal that people are raising questions now about what the team is doing,” Henry, 47, told the Stick to Football podcast.
“I understand that at the very beginning you arrive and it’s not your team. You need at the very least three or four transfer windows to change everything that you want to.
“It takes time and you have to give a manager time to be able to implement what he wants to do. For the last three years Arsenal have been in a situation where they should have at least brought one cup or (reached) a final.”
Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur ended their 17-year wait for a trophy by winning the Europa League last week, while Newcastle United snapped a decades-long drought by winning the League Cup. Crystal Palace won the first major trophy in their history by triumphing in the FA Cup.
Even Manchester United, who have endured a stark decline in recent seasons, have still managed to win trophies, notably last season’s FA Cup and the 2022-23 League Cup.
“Manchester United have played in five finals in the last five years, the United that everyone laughs at – whereas for Arsenal in the last three years of building, they’ve not reached a final,” said Henry. “So I do understand when people ask the question, ‘Surely you should compete for a trophy?'”
