Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has responded to criticism from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who called the Frenchman’s comments about himself as “stupid”.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Henry and his fellow pundit Gary Neville, had some harsh words to say about Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Neville said:
Everyone seems to be eulogising over [Oxlade-Chamberlain] but he doesn’t get in the best XI and strengthen their team. He has three or four areas of his game which he has to significantly improve.
Whilst Henry said:
You have to bring something on the table. I have been watching him for a very long time and I still don’t know what he’s good at.
Speaking after he was named the Man of the Match after Liverpool defeated Newcastle, the England international admitted that he’d heard the comments and gave his thoughts on them.
I was very aware of those comments. It is not nice to hear it from your peers or people you have worked with. Saying you don’t know what I do when you have worked with me, I think it is a bit stupid. When you have watched someone long enough you know what they can do. They can have their own opinions. It cannot shake me. Fair enough if that is what they think, I am not really too bothered. If people want to say those things, you remember them, you don’t forget them, but I am not here to make enemies. The important thing is that when I came here I had a manager who had faith in me and he felt something different to that and I had faith in myself. Everyone says you have to be your own biggest fan and believe in yourself. I am old enough and wise enough and I have been around it long enough to know that things will be said, and not nice things a lot of the time and when you are doing well, nice things will be said. That is all part and parcel of it, it is never nice to hear it from people you have worked with.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Henry explained what he meant by his comments, seemingly back-tracking from them a bit.
Oxlade-Chamberlain deserves praise for what he’s done during his short time at Liverpool so far. But we didn’t see that clearly at Arsenal, At Arsenal, there has always been a lot of debate as to what Oxlade-Chamberlain’s best position is. One day he was a wing back, one day he was a left winger, one day a right winger and on another a number 10. That was the problem, we just didn’t know. It’s so difficult to find out who you are and what you are good at if you don’t have a run of games in a settled position. For Liverpool, we are now seeing a midfielder that puts the pressure on the opposition at every opportunity, he wins the ball back, he scores goals and also gives assists. Now we can see clearly what type of player he is. We can now see clarity in his game and in what he’s being asked to do. That is what he is showing right now. All credit must go to Jurgen Klopp and Oxlade-Chamberlain himself. Clarity has helped him because he now knows what he has to do. To have consistency you need to play regularly and play in the same position more often than not. Oxlade-Chamberlain said himself that’s why he moved to Liverpool and full credit to him, he’s backing those words up with some really efficient performances.
Comments.
Loading comments…