When Thierry Henry received Alex Song’s pass behind the Leeds defence, for a split second I was transported back to being a 12 year old and idolising the seemingly God-like figure we had leading our front line. Bergkamp was the reason I started supporting Arsenal, Henry was the reason they’re in my heart now. When he slotted the ball into the far corner in his typical side-footed fashion I don’t know one Arsenal fan who could hold back the raw emotion that exploded and I lost the struggle to hold back a tear when he embraced Wenger; for all that Le Prof has gone through this season, he deserved that moment just as much. Since that moment however, there have been criticisms creeping out that are carrying a lot of weight, they cannot be glossed over by pointing to sentiment.
2002 Returns
When Paul Scholes made his return to the lightweight United midfield in their FA Cup tie against Man City my first thought was ‘Fergie must be desperate’. One of the few obvious mistakes the Scot has made at United had been failing to replace ‘Sat-nav’ and, realising this, brought the player past his prime in as a quick-fix. Change the ‘lightweight midfield’ to attack and Scholes to Henry you can see Wenger has created the exact same situation at Arsenal. Van Persie’s stellar form has clearly affected Chamakh beyond belief and the only man who knows what’s going on with Park is Wenger himself. We have no quality back-up for the Dutchman and Wenger thinks Henry can provide that.
Henry left the club in 2007, 5 years later and we appear to be no further on. Yes, we’ve had it a bit unlucky with strikers with Eduardo’s leg-break and Adebayor’s lust for money, but the fact that a former club legend can come back to the club and immediately become our 2nd choice striker with some calls to play him in the first XI is worrying. He got the goal that has already made his loan worthwhile, but the inability of Chamakh to even worry that Leeds back-line must surely be playing on Wenger’s mind as the transfer window counts down.
Papering the Cracks
Looking back at Henry’s time, we had a potent strike force including one of Henry, Bergkamp, Kanu and Wiltord at one time, then Reyes came along. Certainly an improvement upon the one we have currently, but this poses a bigger question, have we ever replaced our King? We no longer have the destructive presence of a lightning quick striker that merely had to stand beside a defender for him to have an off-day.
Many have called out for an established striker to be signed this window, especially with Van Persie’s contract running out and surely his desire to have the burden lifted off his shoulders. Yet this season is an interesting one for us. At the moment, can we really afford to take the chance on spending big bucks on a player who is unproven in the Premiership like the ones we have been linked with. The Podolski rumour gathered the most speed but he couldn’t even prove himself with the top team in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, never mind a team caught up in one of the most contested Premierships in recent memory.
Sentimentality Prevails (For Now)
It was written merely to provide some food for thought. For Wenger to go from a manager whose substitute benches used to be ¾ attacking players who could turn a game on its head to one whose benches are merely the pick of our reserve squad is a worrying turn of events.
What is certain at the moment is that Henry has provided a much needed mental boost around the club, but we shouldn’t let this burst of nostalgia cloud our judgement. It’s great to see Thierry back at the club he so obviously loves and with the manager who made him who he is, you need only look at the twitter feeds of Arsenal players to see how happy they are to see him. We do have issues coming up though that need resolved; keeping hold of Van Persie through quality additions to the squad, ensuring St. Totteringham’s day and securing Champions League Football and the potential for silverware in FA Cup and progress in the Champions League. Only time will tell if the short-term arrival of one of our most beloved legends can play a big part in these.
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