Forget about exciting football — Henry tells Arteta what to do against Atletico

Mikel Arteta’s side find themselves 180 minutes away from a first Champions League final since 2006, but will need to perform better than they have in recent weeks to advance.

While a narrow 1-0 victory over Newcastle last weekend provided a morale boost, the performance did little to silence critics of Arsenal’s recent defensive-minded approach.

Speaking on CBS Sports, Henry defended Arteta’s tactical shift this season, insisting that the "winning formula" is all that matters at this stage of the competition.

“Atletico lost at The Emirates, I think it was 4-0 in the league phase, which doesn't tell you a lot, but it tells you it's a game where we created, actually," Henry noted.

“But it will be different. The win, Arsenal against Newcastle, in terms of how we played wasn't outstanding but it's way better to go into that game with a win against Newcastle.”

Addressing the fans and pundits who have criticised Arsenal’s lack of flair this campaign, Henry added: “So let's see what's going to happen tomorrow.

"It's not so much what I want to see, people are expecting or wanting Arsenal to play a certain way now, they didn't the whole year. Why do you want them now to just go forward and start to create?

“They play a certain way, Mikel Arteta plays a certain way, we're strong on set-pieces, solid, we don't create a lot.”

The club’s record goalscorer concluded that at this level, beauty is secondary to progression.

“I would just like to see a win, that will do for me and bring something to The Emirates. You have to be pragmatic sometimes.

"You cannot always be Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain, we play a different way. I think people have to accept the fact that Mikel Arteta goes about the game like that and hopefully we can win.”