Monday, December 04, 2006

The Thierry Henry 'situation', part 2.

I was, perhaps, a little hasty yesterday to write that there was 'no' Thierry situation. I hadn't watched the post-match interview with Wenger, and, I have to admit, he did seem rather frosty when talking about the incident with Thierry.

However, I feel vindicated that, generally, this incident has been blown out of proportion. It seems that Arsene has probably told Thierry two things today: one for definite, the other, I hope.

Firstly, he would have told Thierry that it is he who decides who plays in the games. Thierry might have desperately wanted to play on Saturday, and his wobbly shows his commitment to the club, but doing it so publicly makes him a) look like a bit of a prima-donna and b) questions Arsene's authority. Thierry clearly hasn't been at his best this season, but he hasn't been rubbish either, as some fans with extremely short memories are claiming. A fully fit Thierry can do things for us that no other player can: he was the extra 5% that won the game in Madrid, or got the draw against Spurs last year. It has been interesting to see us play some great football without him this year, but let's not go too far and say he's past it. He needs a rest - not just to recover from the injury, but in general, after playing nearly 60 games in a calender year. He had a rest due to niggling injuries about this time last season, and came back re-energised for the second half of the season. I hope that happens again.

Secondly, I hope Arsene told Thierry not to question him in public, i.e. not to flatly contradict Arsene's statements on our transfer policy in the forthcoming window. I know Thierry wants what's best for the club - not just himself - but he, more than anyone, should trust Arsene's judgement. Indeed, I do wish he'd get rid of that column altogether in the Sun.

There's been a lot of rubbish printed about the whole affair. I hope this is the end of it. I certainly think that Arsene is trying to make a point to Thierry that he is not more important the team/club by, hopefully, getting some good results this month, but to suggest this is the start of some lengthy Vieira-esque 'end of the affair' between Thierry and Arsene and Arsenal is wrong.

It's been good to see that the most judicious pieces on the situation have come from fellow Arsenal bloggers. I point you to the, always superb, Arseblog, Gunnerblog and Goodplaya.

This, on the other hand, angered me. To suggest that Thierry had no right to be on the pitch at the end is nonsense. He's the club's captain. Read what Emmanuel Adebayor had to say about Thierry's involvement on Saturday. Quite the opposite.

So, Arsene has probably laid down the law today to Thierry; perhaps, even told him some uncomfortable home truths about who exactly is boss. But, I don't think there's much more to it than that.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU ARN OR WHATEVER CAN GO TO HELL

Anonymous said...

Some up Arsenal with one word CHEATS

Anonymous said...

People have been saying that Myles Palmer is an idiot for a long, long time. Please just ignore him,and don't visit his site. He is a hack and he is not an Arsenal supporter. He is right less often than the average real fan, does not have a special realtionship with Manager or club and does not have a secret contact who mysteriously hears all the important conversations. He really has a bloody nerve calling his site the Arsenal News Review and if he had an ounce of integrity he would change it immediately...but he won't because he is a hack and he is using the site to promote his book. Rather despicably he often edits e-mails from fans, printng only parts of emails which appear to support his rather egotistical and twisted arguments. Stay away from him.

Anonymous said...

Frank, you are absolutely right! I have become increasingly pissed off with ANR and his article today is the final straw. He is no gooner and I will not be wasting anymore time on his site.

Well said Goonerboy - if Arsenal is your team, show some loyalty and stick with them - ignore the media who are just sh*t stirring lowlife!

Graham Clark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Graham Clark said...

i see where you guys are coming from for ANR, however, the fact that he is not a gooner is one of the reasons i read what he writes, it gives a different perspective. he doesn’t expect you to agree with him.

anyways, about the game, (perhaps the wrong article but w.e) i have found that one thing we have been doing when we win is having our strikers basically run after their defenders when they have the ball. With RVP and Ade, they got the ball a couple of times because of mistakes they forced upon them, remember when Thierry did that in a game i think a week or two ago (sorry i forget which game) because he was mad over a call, and that helped us get the ball, and disrupt their slow-down tactics. Its hard but it seems to work.

I have only seen the 2nd goal and then the 2nd half, but i have the first half recorded and will catch up soon ;)

Anonymous said...

I believe AW is just disappointed that Henry cannot participate in the coming games. They are crucial and the talisman has to miss out. Moreover he was hoping Henry gets sharper and fitter with more games but the injury has to happen.
Notice the recent spates of "against Arsenal" news coming up, especially with the crucial ties coming up.
And the ANR, this Palmer is so anti-Henry that the articles does not make sense.

Anonymous said...

Graham, the problem is ANR claims to be a gooner, when he so clearly isn't. A bit of balance and support for the team captain who has brought so much success and recognition to this club, would not go amiss.

Anonymous said...

MP has never claimed to be a gooner.

I, like Graham, enjoy reading his articles. But recently he seems to be losing it a bit. His Henry arguments seem nonsensical to me, and yet he's constantly defending and making excuses for Rooney!

Anonymous said...

You are right he never claimed to be a gooner but he called his site Arsenal News Review. He has been losing it for a long time. Nothing wrong with enjoying his articles I am also a keen fiction reader. His knowledge of football is pretty poor, but so long as you take his ravings with huge pinch of salt and don't use him as a reference source then you should be fine. Seems pretty pointless and slightly sad to me though.

Anonymous said...

I like sites like ANR and WTF. They force you to take off your Arse-coloured glasses. Arsene knows, but he's not omniscient. The only thing bad about ANR is the overly didactic tone. WTF is a much better read.
Regarding Henry's speel about the Jan window, I don't think he's got anything to apologise for. I haven't read Henry's column, but The Sun's paying him for his opinion. Granted, he represents the club, but he's got a right to say what he thinks. And it's not exactly controversial to suggest we need more experienced players to challenge ManU/Chelsea.

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