Thierry Henry admitted he had doubted Mikel Arteta before Arsenal's run back to the Champions League final, saying he was proud of the team after Bukayo Saka's goal sealed a 2-1 aggregate win over Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal are into their first Champions League final in 20 years and will face Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain on May 30, with Henry telling CBS's coverage of the semi-final win that he had questioned the direction of travel at the club before.
Henry did not hide the fact that he had been among the skeptics when Arsenal were struggling. He said it was normal to question Arteta and the team at this time last year, but added that he was now proud of what he was seeing and wanted to give the manager credit after the criticism he had taken.
That message mattered because Arsenal have moved into a position few expected them to reach this quickly. They were the sole unbeaten team in this season's Champions League, with 11 wins and three draws, and they are within touching distance of a historic double after Manchester City's draw at Everton on Monday left the Premier League race alive.
Arteta said the club had delivered on the scale of the occasion, saying the players had put everything on the line and that Arsenal were back in the final after 20 years and only the second time in the club's history. Henry, who was part of the only other Arsenal side to reach a Champions League final in 2006, said he would wait to see whether Arteta could go over the line in the final and in the league, but for now he had seen enough to offer his praise.
Arsenal's next test comes quickly, with West Ham due at the London Stadium on Sunday before Burnley visit home and Crystal Palace go away. Three wins would be enough to secure their first Premier League title in 22 years, leaving Arteta with two trophies still in reach and Henry's public verdict carrying more weight than it did when he first doubted the project.
