Arsenal great Thierry Henry has criticised fans who verbally abused the club's manager Arsene Wenger in comments published by several British newspapers on Wednesday.

A small group of supporters were caught on camera barracking Wenger as he boarded a train following Arsenal's league defeat at Stoke City last month and Henry said the images had saddened him.

"I thought it was a joke," said the former France international, who won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups under Wenger during his time at Arsenal.

"You can be upset, I totally understand that. But when I saw what happened at Stoke I was like, 'That's totally unnecessary.'

"Fans do have a voice, I totally understand that, but what I saw after the Stoke City game was out of order.

"You can express that you are upset, but to do it in that way was a bit too much. But in the game at the moment, unfortunately that's the way it is."

Henry, Arsenal's record goal-scorer with 228 goals, has returned to work in Britain as a television pundit after announcing his retirement as a player in December.