henry
has anyone other than me noticed that both arsenal and france are suffering from the same problems?
and in both cases henry is at the heart of the problems. both teams have a wealth of attacking options, but no one can play effectively with henry. both teams have midfield difficulty, and the midfields do not work with henry.
i know that other arsenal fans are going to be all over me for this, but i think the best thing that could happen to us is to have henry go to barca (and i love the man. just ask kiki and gio. one of my babies' first words was "henry").
go away thierry. give freddie the armband and fuck off.
posted by bananas @ 11:33 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
i am always amazed at your ability to see things clearly and not be afraid to tell it like it is. i know you love henry, and i know other arsenal fans will be all over you on this, but they're clouded.
I guess I'm clouded then. So be it. Removing Henry from Arsenal is not going to solve any problems. Our defence isn't going to magically improve overnight without him. Our midfield isn't going to suddenly age 10 years and play like veterans because Henry isn't there. Reyes and van Persie may pick up their games somewhat without him, but I haven't seen much from them that convinces me that they are adequate replacements. The team has had tremendous success with him in the lineup in the past and certainly can in the future. I agree that he shouldn't be captain (Campbell would probably be my choice), but I will always want him in the squad.
On another depressing note: Campbell and Gilbert are both out for this weekends game. I think that leaves Larsson, Djourou, Senderos and Flamini as the back four (*shudder*).
brian, did you hear that campbell walked out of highbury at halftime yesterday? anyone who single handedly gives the other team the win and then can't stay to face the music or support his fellows can not be captain.
i do agree with you, however, that henry's absense would not improve our defense. but then how bad has our defense been considering its youth and the injuries? has it really been all that bad? i think they have performed above and beyond. and last year's defense was just as bad, if not worse. the difference was that we had scored three times our current amount of goals by the same time last year. and when you're scoring a ton, defense is secondary.
so the real problem is goal scoring, and in that realm my opinion is firmly entrenched that henry is the hindrance. every game i've watched this year the following boys have spent more time passing to monsieur than shooting: hleb, pires, reyes, ljungberg, gilberto, lauren, fabregas, and bergkamp. the only one who shoots first is van persie. if the others took half the shots they were open for they would still miss some, but we'd see a lot more goals from them than we're seeing now.
last year these guys took their own shots, and they did score. the stats bore that out.
but last year henry wasn't captain, he wasn't declaring that he and only he would take penalty shots (because pires screwed up a penalty that was henry's idea), which must have a negative effect on his teammates, nor was the weight of the game on his shoulders. it was on the shoulders of patty. and patty was a beginner, a facilitator, not a finisher like henry, so when the others were being captained their natural role was to be helped and aided by their captain -- to finish what he started -- not to facilitate their captain's goalscoring like they're doing this year (which has always been a sound argument for why strikers make lousy captains).
so i still say henry's going will be the best thing for arsenal. but i suppose only time will tell.
and i will say this: nothing would please me more than to be proven wrong.
Yes, I heard about Campbell leaving the team yesterday. That combined with him being given the day off from training today and being left out of the match squad for this weekend is a very troubling sign and I hope that there is more to the story. I just can't think of anybody else on the team that could realistically be given the captaincy. The media liked to talk about Cole, but after his negotiations with Chelsea that won't happen. Lehmann has the experience, but not the temperment. I don't see Pires being with the team much longer, so that rules him out (same with Gilberto). Perhaps Freddie or Lauren, but neither really comes across as much of a leader.
Also, regarding the taking of penalties - I want Henry to take them all. The idea of the person who got fouled not taking the kick was crap to begin with. If Henry is the best shooter on the team, he should be shooting. If he's not the best, then let Lauren take them. I still have no idea why Henry let Reyes take the kick in the Carling Cup semi (it was a nice save, but Reyes shouldn't have been in that situation).
I guess I'm still optimistic that Adebayor will step into Kanu's old role and partner well with Henry. I would also love to see a true leader arrive in the squad, but those players are tough to find.
At the end of the day, changes need to be made and Arsenal can either build a team around Henry or they can try to replace him. I think finding (and keeping) a player with that level of talent is the hardest thing for a team to do and if we let him go we'll spend the next decade trying to find "the next Henry".
i hope you're right about adebayor. it will sure be nice to have an aerial threat up front again, and if he partners well with henry that will makes us even deadlier.
i'm not opposed to the old policy of the man winning the penalty doesn't take it, mostly cause i think our strength in penalty shoot outs, like our fa cup final win last year, have more to do with everyone getting a shot at penalties under pressure than an afternoon of practising penalties. still, like you, i was baffled to see reyes take the shot. lauren is the man.
and with all these things we've been talking about it is lauren's heretofore unmentioned injury, which could mean the end of his season, which i think is the biggest news. sol has fallen apart. he's is no longer the sol of old, but lauren has been the teams bedrock all season. underrated, understated, and our most consistent performer. without him to give the back some stability we are in serious trouble. the ivory coast can't be booted fast enough for me...which means they'll make it all the way to the final.
as for "the next henry"...i'm already sick of "the next vieira" talk. i don't know how i will stand a decade of "the next henry," but i think i'd still like to try ;)
i wish i knew this much about footie. in time....
i get a sense that if you keep talking to brian you're going to know more than most people who profess to know about footie and don't. brian knows his shit.
that he does.
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