There is a lot happening on the Henry saga with regard to will he go or will he stay etc. It is almost a carbon copy of the Vieira departure which started about a year earlier than his eventual departure.


Consider the following: Henry states only a week ago “I am an Arsenal player…. for now…” His agent denies claims he met with Barca officials. Meanwhile Thuram gets a call from Henry sounding him out on how life is at Barca and in Spain.


And almost simultaneously it is reported that Wenger has met with Barca to discuss the move! Finally Edelman, from the Arsenal Board, states that they will follow Arsene’s decision on the matter!


But most important of all Wenger himself has not denied that he met the Barca officials!


But if Henry is leaving Arsenal will he ‘fade to grey’ as has Vieira or a lot of other ex Arsenal stars who dared venture to pasture on seemingly greener grass across the pond? Like some of the bigger names: Anelka, Petit, Overmars, Vieira, Edu, Pires.


Being released by Wenger does not of course, one may argue, necessarily stigmatize a player as a failure who will not again reach the dizzy heights of football perfection.


However, we tend to think so. And there are, to us, obvious reasons for this.


Wenger grooms the players for the position that suits them best and they therefore have every chance of excelling. Remember Henry was a winger when he arrived at Arsenal and wasn’t himself sure if he was cut out to be a forward.


But more importantly he organizes the team’s tactics and way of play to fit the players skills, motivates them superbly through his man management skills and creates a loyalty factor which is second to none.


Let’s take Henry’s case: We believe that he will not be the same player for Barca as when he was playing for Wenger at Arsenal.


The most obvious reason is the way Wenger sets up his teams and their style of play which is to always use the front man as the pivot of the attack. This invariably culminates in providing the scoring opportunity for the centre forward. Will he get this at Barca?


Will their coach, whoever he may be, adjust the team’s style and their mentality to suit Henry’s way of playing and allow him to be the main man? Especially when they have so many other stars in their line up all wanting the lime light and a piece of the action?


Secondly how will Barca themselves tactically accommodate four superstars in their line up? If Eto’o is not allowed to go they will have Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Messi and now Henry. They may play 4 4 2 with Henry and Eto’o up front and the other two on the wings. It sounds good but we don’t think this is the way to go!


Henry as has been proved before in his displays for France, when he was paired with Trezeguet, cannot be as effective with another forward next to him. It crowds him out. It is not a surprise that Wenger has very rarely played a straight 4 4 2 formation when Henry was in the team.


If they choose to play 4 4 1 1 (with Eto’o and Henry in the more forward positions) do you see Ronaldinho and Messi tracking back to defend as this system demands? And if they play 4 3 3 their defensive midfield options are severely compromised.


Barca’s style of play also depends on quick passing and movement and for this to happen the players need space. Something that will become a very rare commodity if all four of them play.


A way to avoid these problems is if they let Eto’o go. And this may prove a blessing in disguise for Arsenal as Eto’o at 26 is a much fitter and hungrier player than Henry and with a much better goal average at 12 goals in 16 appearances! He will do very well at Arsenal.


Arsenal Analysis has argued before that there is too much reliance placed on Henry by Arsenal and it was about time to reduce this imbalance (Waiting for Godot).


There are two more reasons why we think that Henry is likely to find that the grass is not greener elsewhere. The first is his age. At 29 going to 30 he is indeed entering that age where fitness and injuries will come more into the fore.


There must be some niggling thoughts at the back of Wenger’s mind that may be Henry is beginning to lose his pace due to age and not because of injury. He is after all entering that stage in his career at 29 where this indeed may begin to show.


And if indeed Henry has expressed a desire to leave then Wenger may have decided to cut his losses and go for the money and/or Eto’o. Will Henry regain his fitness? (Henry for Barcelona).


And this brings us to our last point which is to do with Henry’s personal situation. For him to be effective on the field his personal life has to be settled. Will he and his family settle in Spain? Learn a new language and a new way of life? In addition to getting used to his new team surroundings? And if all this takes him a season to settle in will he be as fit as when he was 29?


The downside to this is the psychological impact that his departure will have on the other players who have only recently managed to get over Vieira’s exodus.


By Arsenal Analysis

There is a lot of gossip appearing in the English press in the last few days about Henry’s agent Jerome Anderson already in talks with Barca officials!


There are also the usual Barcelona induced Spanish press gossipers who at the end of each season begin the usual ritual of publishing stories about Henry leaving Arsenal.


This is also spuriously linked to a few words that Henry himself has said about not being happy with the way things have turned out at Arsenal this season.


Leaving aside the fact that all concerned with Arsenal should indeed be unhappy with the season just ended there are not in our opinion strong football, financial or personal reasons at the moment to justify Henry’s departure from Arsenal.


Football reasons


A fit Henry is not for sale full stop. But clearly Henry has not been at his usual scintillating best during last season. The stats on the player would obviously not make a pretty reading.


This has been put down to injury and fatigue. This may be so; we are not in a position to know. Maybe Wenger and his medical team are also not in a position to know either.


There must be some niggling thoughts at the back of Wenger’s mind that may be Henry is beginning to lose his pace due to age and not because of injury. He is after all entering that stage in his career at 29 where this indeed may begin to show.


And the fact is that unless Henry gets totally fit again no one will know. Totally fit in our mind means doing it on the centre stage in a competitive match. Not at the London Colney play house nor indeed at the Amsterdam Tournament or the Emirates Cup during the pre season.


So it would indeed be very premature for Wenger to let Henry go at this juncture. No one can tell whether Henry is past it yet. So if Wenger is serious about challenging for the title next season he needs to keep Henry at the club and hope that Henry will be at his top form.


Arsenal Analysis has advocated that Arsenal need to recruit another striker in order to supplement the forward line and provide cover. Something that was evidently missing this season. What does Arsenal need to do to challenge for next season? So you wouldn’t let a 25 goal a season man go just like that whatever money they are offering you.


If indeed Henry is not up to it then the best time to cut your losses and sell will be in the January transfer window when by then Henry’s fitness will be more evident and the team’s capabilities in terms of winning something major more apparent. And the public outcry probably a little less vociferous.


Wenger was faced with this type of decision before! He could have got a vastly superior purse for Vieira but he held on for another season (incorrectly so, as Vieira was indeed not performing at his high best but that is another story).


There is another football reason for keeping Henry.


The effect on player’s morale would be even more devastating than when Vieira departed. Judging by what happened when Vieira left then you can kiss the title goodbye if this happens.


Especially if there is no effective replacement with a big name signing coming in. Like Eto’o for instance. And the chances of this happening are not that great.


And if indeed it does happen there is the now almost mandatory six to twelve months adjustment to English football period to consider. Wenger knows this and that is why in our opinion he will not want to let Henry go, for now.


Financial Reasons


On the face of it there is a strong case for purely financial reasons to sell Henry on. The club will receive a substantial fee in the region of 20m plus save his salaries for the next four years totaling another 25m. That’s a huge sum of money to waive goodbye to!


However if, say, Henry were to be sold the year after, most of the salaries will not go away nor indeed a large part of the transfer fee. In other words the risks in terms of forgone financial benefits could be manageable compared to the possible upside of winning trophies next year and the commercial benefits that will ensue.


Personal Reasons


We have left this factor last because it is indeed the most important. If Henry wants out then Wenger will have his work cut out to convince him otherwise. But Henry has won almost everything there is to win in football apart the Champions League.


He has won the World Cup (played in two finals), the European Championship and several League championships in the toughest league in the world. Does he honestly believe that by moving to Barcelona he will win the Champion’s League? The Barcelona that were knocked out by Liverpool?


And then there is his personal situation. His wife is English and they have a young daughter. Why move abroad and unsettle all that? Especially when the Arsenal youngsters are coming of age and on the brink of establishing Arsenal as one of the best teams in the world playing fantastic football!


Only last week Henry said:


“Since I started playing football there has been speculation about me going to a lot of clubs and that will never, ever stop.


But as I said, for now I am an Arsenal player, so there is nothing to add to it.”


Ed: the italics are our own!


By Arsenal Analysis

So Arsenal will play Barcelona in Paris on May 17th.

In another tight game, Barcelona drew 0-0 at home with AC Milan, but the 1-0 lead from the first leg was enough.

People are talking of the " Dream Final " in terms of football and it has all the makings of a classic, let's hope so.

Former Gooner, Ian Wright Wright Wright has once again put his 2 cents worth into the 'Henry to Barcelona' Story according to The Sun newspaper.

The former record goalscorer said:

With everything that Henry has done at Arsenal and with the desire he has to win the Champions League and other titles I would have to consider it if Barcelona called me.

Hmm..... No shit, like we didn't know.... Thanks Wrighty, just what we need before playing Madrid.

The 'Henry to Barcelona' rumours just won't let up. Normally this doesn't bother me, but 2 things this week have made me a little nervous.


The first one is Big Pete 'Gran Formagio' Hillwood spouting off that we have offered Henry a fortune. This is the classic "We did everything to keep him" game, Pehaps Pete was in in Cuba buying Habanos and missed Mr Henry saying its not about money.
Does any Gooner out there seriously believe that Thierry Henry thinks like a certain lazy pot smoking forgetful center half at Old Trafford? Lets shout this one out so Pete can hear us in his Ivory Tower. Henry will play football next season at the club thats best for HIS career. Uncle Peter saying that 3 signings with a combined age of less than half the Chairman's just might not be what Henry thinks about in terms of fulfilling his Ambition. Which brings me to my second worry.


A close friend who has er, now how should I put this.... lets just say very good inside links at Barcelona, has started getting a bit confident this last week with the Henry to Barcelona story. In fact he's writing as much here and I quote; "Reliable sources inform me that an oral agreement confirming the deal has been made." Could be crap of course, hopefully its a wind-up but I will tell you that his realiable sources were correct about getting Rhonaldinho from under the noses of Man U when they felt they had a deal done.


Yes it could be more Barcelona PR, but if not, you know where you heard it first. WARNING Gooner fans worse nightmare picture is on this article, so look at your own risk!




On to the FA Cup where it seems that Big Fat Sam's boys will be facing an Arsenal team without Thierry Henry, Lauren, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires, who will be rested, and of course the ever increasing left back injury list of Cole, Cleachy and Cygan.


Can't say I'm exactly confident for this one, what with all the noise about concentrating on the Premiership, even the bookies have us beat before we kick a ball.


For Gooners in the US or regions where you can get Direct TV, the game is on channel 580.


Come on Gooners !