On Monday, Thierry Henry will be unveiled as Barcelona’s newest striker. I totally respect what Henry was done at Arsenal. As one of the most classiest players to ever have graced the English game, he is totally irreplaceable.
Back to Henry for a minute. While the talisman has brought so much glory to Arsenal, his attitude off the pitch during the last 12 months has been detrimental to the club. He holds too much power and, to me, has been too vocal with his opinions telling the media what he believes is best for Arsenal.
I don’t think Arsenal fans or the club should be in a state of panic regarding Henry’s departure. With Stan Kroenke on the horizon, the club has an opportunity to receive enormous amounts of investment to buy the best talent available. While that day hasn’t come yet, let’s hope that Wenger stays in charge and steadies the ship. The Gunners fans will want a new signing quickly to distinguish the fire of outrage among many Arsenal fans devastated by Henry’s departure.
Thaksin Shinawatra, meanwhile, is a whole different kettle of fish. To me, the only two things worse than Man City’s last season are one, relegation and two, bankruptcy. With the former Thai prime minister in charge of City (if the Premier League deems him a fair and proper person), how much worse can it get? With his enormous amounts of cash, City can buy their way to comfortable safety next season. Without him, City’s forthcoming season could be in grave danger.
I agree completely about Arsenal sans Henry. Even on the pitch, it oftentimes seem like the rest of the team is just waiting for Henry to do something. Classy as he is, he often does just that, but (and I’ll probably get slammed for this) the Gunners sometimes play better team football when he isn’t the focus of the attack.
I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that it is the “best that could happen to the club right now.” I would say that that would probably be Arsene signing an extension or Arsene pulling a rabbit out of his hat and signing Carlos Tevez.
I think they probably do need a striker, though I’m not exactly quivering about the prospect of the incredible sulk making his return. Their major problem last year was getting practically nothing in terms of goals from the midfield. If that gets rectified, they should have enough up front. RVP was on his way to a 20 goal season before he was injured last year. Adebayor, Walcott, and Bendtner are not a bad supporting cast.
If they aren’t going to get in the sweepstakes for Tevez, I would really love to see them pick Obafemi Martins. He’s a finisher with power and pace who can stretch the back four and create space for everyone else.