Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, while participating in match commentary, talked about the Gunners' performance in the North London Derby and emphasized that Arsenal must come to terms with being title contenders.
When discussing Eberechi Eze, Henry said: "As always, you can see his calmness—he’s born with this composed demeanor. He’s level-headed and speaks in a consistent tone. But what I admire most about his current performances is his ability to find ways to cut into the penalty area and its surrounding areas. Especially for one of his goals, you could see him beat all the defenders to ensure he had enough time to take the shot. And we all know how strong his finishing ability is. I mean, although he’s joined us now, looking back at his time at Crystal Palace, playing alongside Mateta, after the team repositioned him as a No.10, he suddenly saw the game from a different perspective because he had a teammate who could pass and create chances for him. Obviously, the situation today was different—he didn’t have a traditional No.9 alongside him, but I think that’s why he found it easier to cut into the box today. Without a No.9 drawing defenders, he sometimes took on that role himself."
Talking about Arsenal, Henry continued: "At some point, you have to accept it all. Everyone keeps talking about the process, but this is no longer the 'trust the process' phase—the process is already producing results. You have to be realistic. When we built this team, we firmly believed it was a top-class squad. Did we talk about the players who aren’t getting game time before? Looking at how we’re performing now, we no longer have to complain about the absence of one or two players. So now, the team must have the confidence to challenge for the league title. I’m not saying they will definitely win it, but you have to show the attitude of title contenders. Embrace those expectations—I’m not putting pressure on you. If I had returned to coaching last summer, I would have said 'stop messing around' back then. We need to put in performances that intimidate opponents this season, and that’s not arrogance at all."
