Troy Deeney appears to have changed his tune on Arsenal, leading to his wife hilariously calling talkSPORT to query his newfound adoration.
Gunners supporters may not be the biggest fans of the ex-striker after he famously said their side lacked ‘cojones’ following a 2-1 defeat against his Watford team in 2017.
However, Arsenal have since become established Premier League title contenders and look set to take Manchester City all the way again this season after a resilient ten-man performance in Sunday’s 2-2 draw.
The display has been mostly criticised by fans, but talkSPORT’s Deeney was full of praise for the Gunners in a stark contrast to his past observations.
“I think at that point it was a fair comment,” he said on Matterface and Crook.
“And then, what’s happened is you’ve seen the evolution and I think you’ve seen a steeliness now and a nasty side to them where I think you can get behind it.
“You can see… You know, when they played City last week, they went down to ten men, I thought, obviously it was a silly decision to kick the ball away from [Leandro] Trossard, but it also showed who and what they are.
“They went, ‘Right, we don’t have to beat you now by going out, we’re going to sit in and we’re going to be horrible and nasty and we’re going to try all the ‘dark arts’, time-wasting skills that we can do.’ I’ve just started to like who and what they’re about.
“I like the way that they act in the transfer market, I don’t think they buy now unless it suits them. I think at times if they’ll buy, they’ll just go and get a big name player and try and fix it.”
Sam Matterface asked if Arsenal had grown up and Deeney replied: “Absolutely. I think you can see from top to bottom, a real clear level [strategy]… Yeah, what they’re trying to do. And also… Can we change subject? I feel a bit sick talking nicely about them.”
Although Arsenal fans may find his compliments refreshing, Deeney’s Gooners-supporting wife Alisha seemed shock to hear his praise and called into the show to question him, much to Troy’s jokey displeasure.
“There was no way you were going to give Arsenal props after all these years and not get stick from me live on radio, babe,” she said in a funny phone call. “What are you playing at?”
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“Diehard Gooners in our house, but honestly babe, where has this come from?” she added. “This is what I want to know.”
“Am I actually answering?” asked Troy with a sly grin before replying: “So in my house, I like to have a level of discipline, that’s clearly gone out of the window based on this. No, I like to wind people up in the house, obviously Arsenal fans.
“And yeah, I like to just highlight certain things that Arsenal players do that annoy me. I.e., when defenders defend, and they laugh and giggle and it’s like, ‘Yes, we did our job!’ But it’s like, ‘You didn’t do your job because you ended up drawing the game.'”
Alisha was then asked if Troy has softened his position on Arsenal and she said: “At times. I feel like every now and again you’ll let out a little comment and I’ll go, ‘OK, maybe the ‘cojones’ thing… we’re out of the woods with that.’ But I think he’s always been a secret Arsenal fan.”
She was also questioned about counselling him on his ‘cojones’ claim seven years ago, but Alisha said: “No. I feel like when you’re married to someone like Troy, you kind of give or take whatever comes out of his mouth. Honestly babe, you’ve made my weekend!”
“Babe, honestly, get off the phone now,” Troy hilarious said before telling Matterface and Alex Crook: “What you don’t understand is, this is going to be a long discussion.
“I have a two-and-a-half hour drive home, I promise you we’ll be speaking for at least three.”
Deeney will be in position at the Emirates Stadium for talkSPORT on GameDay live as Arsenal take on Leicester in a match that could see him have a further change of heart on Mikel Arteta’s side.
