Thierry Henry has questioned the motive behind Arsenal’s celebrations on the final day of the season.

The Gunners were in wild joy at St. James Park following a 1-0 victory over Newcastle which secured a fourth-place finish ahead of close competitors Tottenham Hotspur.

That result meant that no Arsenal side has ever failed to finish in the top four during Arsene Wenger’s reign, but for Thierry Henry who enjoyed the taste of winning two Premier League titles as a Gunner, there was not much cheering to do about the season that just ended.

Indeed, Henry is urging the Gunners to seek pride in chasing the title rather than qualifying for the Champions League.

“Yes, they finished in the top four. But there is only one champion: Manchester United,” Henry told Sky Sports. “I’m a competitor, so there is only one thing I can remember from 2013 – and that is that United won the league.

“For me, as a fan and as a player at Arsenal, we should be in the top four as normal – but [instead] it saved our season.”

Despite expressing his disappointment over the lowered standards at Arsenal, Henry gave his old club the benefit of the doubt, suggesting that maybe the celebrations were mainly about the misery which was inflicted on local rivals Spurs.

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I know we can have a go about the pictures of them celebrating finishing fourth, but you have to understand that, for any Arsenal player, when you wear the shirt and really play for the club, putting Tottenham out of the top four means a lot,” Henry added

“And I do hope, I really do hope that was why they were celebrating. I said it when we also did it to them in 2006, (beat Spurs to fourth) it wasn’t because we had qualified for the Champions League but because we kept them out of it”