Many regular watchers of Arsenal, might not have been surprised at the way Troy Deeney described his approach when taking on Arsene Wenger's side.
But his post-match remarks to BT Sport after Watford's turnaround at home to battle back and win 2-1 on Saturday evening were still eyebrow raising.
To quote the combative Deeney as he responded to Wenger's comments disputing the penalty that saw the Hornets equalise: "Well, I'm not going to be one to tell Mr Wenger about himself, but there's a reason that they lost and it wasn't because of one penalty.
"I have to watch what I say, but it's [having] a bit of cojones, is what I'll say. Whenever I play against Arsenal, I'll go up and think 'let me whack the first one and see who wants it.'
"I came on today and jumped up with [Per] Mertesacker -- I didn't even have to jump, actually -- I nodded it down, the crowd gets up: 'Yeah we've got somebody who can win it,' and they all just backed off.
"For me as a player, I just think 'happy days.' That's my strength -- if you're going to let me do my strength against you, you're going to have a tough afternoon.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger during the Premier League match at Vicarage Road, Watford. Steven Paston/PA Wire/PA Images
"I just think personally there's an element of that being an equaliser for me. I know I'm not technically gifted like they are, not as quick, but if you want to fight with me, I'm gonna beat you all day.
"If you want to come into my world and do that, you can do that, but you've got to be at a level where your excellence of keeping the ball, being fast and getting in the right positions are all 10/10 because my equaliser is I'm big, strong, and I do all the ugly stuff you don't wanna do, and I'm going to make it horrible for you."
Kevin Kilbane, who saw the Watford-Arsenal game first hand had his say about Deeney's description on the Football Show and whether the Gunners will take some learnings from the views of a fellow professional.
"Most of the managers that I ever would have had would have played that [clip] the following day: 'That's what fellow pros are saying about you. That's what they think about you when they're coming here,'" he said.
"I don't think that's [Wenger's] psychology but I actually saw it. Look at Martin Keown sat beside [Deeney] when that's going on. Martin Keown can't sit in his chair. He's edgy, he's tetchy and immediately he says, 'If I'm Arsene Wenger, I'm playing that to my team'. It was exactly what I was thinking when I saw it because that is unreal to say that about a fellow pro. Part of me thinks it's disrespectful but that's his thinking. That's what he's thinking so he's quite right to say that."
And Kevin does not expect Arsenal to pay any heed to Deeney's remarks and will continue playing the way they always do.
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