Champions League: Henry tells Arsenal how to stop Barcelona
- Jumai
- Feb 22, 2016
- 1 min read
Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona in 2008 after becoming the London clubs top scorer of all time. He was also part of the historic team who under Pep Guardiola won the all the titles they competed for in 2009. With his experience as a player for both clubs and as a pundit, Henry has wrned coach Arsene Wenger against setting his team to go all out attack against the reigning European champions.
"They have to accepto accept they will probably only have 30 per cent possession and must be so efficient when they do get the ball,” he wrote in his column for The Sun. “The whole team must defend more as a unit and the wingers must tuck in and play more in their own half. “You very rarely get the chance to play against Barcelona so you must be prepared to sacrifice parts of your attacking game, home and away.
“Arsenal must be brave on the ball. They need to stay compact, play on the counter and score every time they get in their penalty area. “They can’t be exposed in the middle and must force Barcelona to run back 60 yards before they get the ball. If you allow them to stay in your half for wave after wave, it becomes almost impossible to defend.” Arsenal and Barcelona last faced each other in the round of 16 of the Champions League in 2011 season with Barcelona winning 3 – 1 in the second leg to overturn a 2 – 1 loss in the first leg.
