With the African Nations Cup looming, Arsene Wenger finds himself short on forwards and has begun to contemplate a loan move for the Gunners’ all-time leading scorer, Thierry Henry.
Henry, who currently plays for New York Red Bulls in the United States’ Major League Soccer, could be available for a two-month loan spell to help cover while Ivorian Gervinho and Moroccan Marouane Chamakh are away at the ANC. I have to ask, is this good idea?
Thierry the Great
The kid in me came out when I first read that Wenger could re-sign our former captain. Just the thought of Henry, the player who I have idolized all my life, returning to Arsenal was exciting. How could this be anything but a great idea? What a potentially great Christmas present for Gooners worldwide.
I’m sure many shared that sentiment as an initial reaction. When I think of Thierry Henry, I think of his great goal from outside the box against Manchester United. I think of him storming through the Liverpool defense and giving the Gunners the lead. I think of the last great memory I have of him, scoring from an Emmanuel Eboue cross with his head in the 94th minute to beat Manchester United during the 2006-07 campaign (one of the few highlights from that season).
All I remember of Henry in an Arsenal shirt is greatness. Greatness the likes of which, quite frankly, I don’t fully expect to see in my lifetime. I was young when he was at the peak of his powers, which somewhat skews my memory of him into a football Superman. He was a player with superpowers, a player who was larger than life.
Memories are great things, and I will carry those with me all my life. But there is a simple truth that the now adult me must come to grips with.
Thierry Henry is not that player anymore.
Blasphemy or Common Sense
As painful as it is for me to say, bringing Henry back to Arsenal is not a good idea. Henry is now 34 years-old and lacks the pace that he once used to steam past defenders. His ability to take over games offensively is simply not there anymore. Asking him to do that at the Premier League level does him and Arsenal no service.
Arsenal would likely need to alter its formation to utilize Henry. Without the pace of his youth, Henry won’t be able to have the affect on the outside of the front three that Arsenal need. Henry certainly won’t be playing ahead of the man who just equaled his calendar year scoring record, Robin Van Persie in the middle of the attack.
All of that doesn’t even factor in his effect on the dressing room. He could be a calming veteran influence on young players. Or, he could become frustrated at not being able to recapture his former form. He may still demand the ball too much while on the pitch.
If you are Francis Coquelin, and Thierry Henry screams at you for the ball, aren’t you going to pass it to him?
Henry scored 14 goals in 26 MLS matches last season. That’s certainly a decent striking rate. But the level of play in that league is very suspect. I live in the United States, so I am able to watch plenty of New York Red Bulls games. The Henry of the early 2000s would have scored 50 goals in those 26 matches.
Playing in that league and having not played a competitive match since November 3rd will not exactly have him in the best of form. In the MLS playoffs, Henry was not able to generate any memorable scoring changes against the “mighty” Los Angeles Galaxy defense which included Omar Gonzalez and A.J. De La Garza (be honest if you aren’t American, you don’t know those names).
Show Me the Money
The rumor is that Henry would be paid £75,000 a week while on loan at the Emirates. Since he would probably be available for about six weeks, that’s an investment of £450,000 pounds. That’s a large sum of money to pay for a six week stint to a striker that we aren’t sure will still be any type of force going forward in the Premier League. I know some will say that we are only attempting to sign a potential substitute for Van Persie. Do you think Arsenal should be paying that weekly salary to a substitute?
You have to be honest with yourself and the current times. If his name wasn’t Thierry Henry, and he wasn’t Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer, would you be clamoring for Arsene Wenger to sign a 34 year-old forward with diminishing pace who played in a much lower league for all of 2011? And by the way, this will cost you £75,000 per week.
I doubt you’d make that deal.
I hesitate to talk about the Emirates Cup last summer (when I do I get visions of Jack Wilshere limping off the pitch). At that point, the MLS was in mid-season and Henry would have been at a point where you could judge his current abilities against Premier League defenders. Other than the fact that it was Thierry Henry on the Emirates pitch again, was he able to do anything that got you out of you seat?
I remember him being not much of a factor in the match, and looking very frustrated (until he involved in the won goal that tied that match).
The move doesn’t make fiscal sense, especially for a team who so often makes decisions based on fiscal responsibility. I know, in the grand scheme of things, £450,000 is not a large sum of money for Arsenal Football Club to absorb. But I want value for my money.
FORWARD
This year’s 125th Anniversary kit says “FORWARD.” That’s the direction Arsenal need to look to reinforce the squad. As I said earlier, memories are great things. This season’s anniversary celebrations have brought back many and it has been fun looking back. Seeing Henry get emotional at his statue unveiling brought out emotion in many of us, as we remembered the golden days when Thierry was scoring goals for fun.
We all need to move on. Arsene Wenger has said he isn’t much for history, and that he’s always looking forward. That’s what the Professor needs to do now. Look past the emotion and let the past in the past.
There is no doubt that Arsenal will be short on forwards come the middle of January. The ANC starts on January 21st. That probably means Gervinho and Chamakh will be off to the tournament at least a week earlier than that. The final isn’t until February 12th, with Gervinho’s Côte d'Ivoire squad having a legitimate shot at making it that far.
Between January 14th and February 12th, Arsenal will play four Premier League games and potentially two FA Cup matches, if the Gunners are able to beat Leeds United on January 9th. Here’s hoping the Ivory Coast is knocked out early, so Gervinho is back for the Champions League clash with AC Milan on February 15th.
I would argue that Arsenal needs a long term addition to the front line, the ANC not withstanding. Chamakh has not been able recapture the form he had when he first joined the club and Andrey Arshavin has been a shell of his former self.
I’d much rather see Arsene Wenger go after a player like Valencia’s Roberto Soldado or even German Lukas Podolski (though I am not as sold on him an Arsenal player).
Still the King
Though he’s not the answer this year, Thierry Henry will always be the King of Highbury. To me, he will always be the greatest Arsenal player I ever saw. It sincerely pains me to say he’s not good enough to help Arsenal anymore but he just isn’t. I’m sure that some will read this and brand me “not a real fan” for ever speaking a word against Thierry. But we must live in reality. We must live in the current season. We must move FORWARD.
Follow Jimmy Gossard on Twitter @JimmyGossard
Latest:
