That dismal 0-0 draw left me with three impressions.
Arsenal v Man United used to be the biggest game of the season, the biggest game in town, the centrepiece of the Premiership season.
It was huge and exciting.
But now it’s a bit shabby and impoverished.
It’s lost its status.
It’s seen better days.
It has become the fourth game in 8 days over Xmas.
It’s a fixture living in reduced circumstances.
Can Arsenal- Man United return to its former glory?
Yes, but not if Arsenal are 6th in the table.
THE LAST SEASON at Highbury was always gonna be weird, but its weird in ways I did not expect.
Highbury is now the doomed home of a moody icon.
He leads the team out, he wears the armband, he does brilliant things with the ball, he vanishes, he scores or nearly scores, he vanishes again, he wastes free-kick after free-kick, year after year.
When Henry goes off at half-time they play his Nike video on the Jumbotrons to remind you that Highbury is his stage, the place where he struts and pouts and strolls.
To run, or not to run, that is the question. To play or not to play, that is the question. To stay or not to stay, that is the question.
Henry has become Hamlet in red Nike boots.
The tracksuit scientist has created a monster who is now utterly out of control.
THE MEDIA have made the Premiership into the biggest soap opera on TV and within that big soap are several major plot lines.
One of these is the Thierry contract situation.
Will he go, will he stay?
It’s become a huge bore.
Its also become counter-productive.
If the team had a midfield, if Freddie was still scoring, if Dennis and Sol were eight years younger, if Ashley Cole was racing down the left wing, Thierry’s contract drama would not matter so much.
But it has become a cancer within the club.
He will be 29 in August.
The captain doesn’t know, or will not say, whether he wants to play for Arsenal when he is 32.
The situation is compounded by his nonchalant style, his refusal to chase defenders, and also by his injuries.
Because when Henry stands around, when he looks uninvolved, fans say : he’s off, he’s not interested, he wants away, he won’t sign, he’s out of here.
BUT HE HAS ALWAYS DONE THAT !
His body language is part of him, part of his bizarre personality. There’s nobody like him anywhere, nobody I’ve ever seen or can see now, who does what he does when he is not on the ball.
He is a total one-off.
And it’s all off-the-cuff with him.
He has a license to do what he likes and everybody else has to fit in with what he wants to do.
The things he gets away with are incredible : he stands around five yards offside all season, which caused Van Persie’s goal to be disallowed against Chelsea.
If that goal had stood, and Arsenal had won that game, the last month would have been totally different.
BUT NOBODY MENTIONS THAT!!!
Is Thierry Henry like Frank Sinatra? Do reporters have different rules when writing about him?
His body language will never change.
He is what he is.
He has his good points and his bad points and he is too rich to change now.
But the situation of AFC, combined with the situation of his contract, puts the spotlight on Henry constantly.
So now there is big question mark hanging over the pitch every time he plays.
Maybe he cannot see it, but everyone else can.
It’s a huge neon question mark hanging over the centre circle every time Arsenal kick off.
It’s invisible, but we can all see it.
In effect, Thierry is saying : Do you love me enough? Are you good enough for me? Does Arsenal FC deserve four more years of Thierry Henry? I am the franchise, so you need me more than I need you.
THAT, to me, is ridiculous. That situation should not arise. It should never be allowed to arise.
Football, in the end, is about playing for your team.
Steven Gerrard realised that and became happier.
Stevie G loves playing for his team.
John Terry loves playing for his team.
The TH14 situation has become utterly ridiculous. It’s player-power gone mad.
The moody icon is beginning to remind me of Steve McManaman, who only pretended to re-negotiate with Liverpool, then left on a free.
If Thierry Henry wants to leave, he can go. If he wants to sign now and go later, he can do that too.
By hedging his bets, Henry is hurting the club and hurting the fans and he is hurting the team in a very difficult season which could go into freefall when Kolo Toure jets off to Egypt for the African Cup of Nations.
Arsene should make two signings in the window.
One, Henry.
Two, a coach who can drill the back five and tighten the defence enough to finish above Spurs.
I think he needs four experienced players, I’ve said that all season, but if he signed a coach and re-signed Henry now, he would be in better shape.
It’s not the end of the world if Henry goes.
It really isn’t.
And he would not be as good anywhere else.
I will bet my house on that.
I’ll bet my house, my new glass patio table, my Dell computer, my Brother printer, all my books and records and CDs, my Notting Hill Carnival whistles, and even my autographed cartoon of Dr John, that Thierry Henry would not be half as productive playing for another club as he has been at Arsenal.
WE READ TODAY that Barcelona president Laporta and Henry are talking on the phone every week.
If that is true, drop Henry. Sell him tomorrow.
DID YOU SEE THE ROONEY-HENRY RACE in the 84th minute?
Henry picked the ball up in a right back position, slalomed across the field away from Fletcher and Park, accelerated down the left wing, crossing the halfway line, and Rooney chased him and overtook him and backheeled the ball to stop it perfectly on the touchline, and then walked away with the ball, while Henry gave up, did not contest possession
People don’t realise how quick Rooney is. Although he is chunky, his legs pump like pistons and he is lightning.
And that cameo, that race, reminds us that pace is mental. Pace has to be driven by desire. We sometimes saw Anelka outsprinted by slower players because he did not want to run faster.
THIS MORNING I WOKE at 8.30 and lay in bed thinking : Do I still like football?
That was two hours ago. I’ve decided I still like football.
But I like teams with proper captains, teams who can score from crosses, teams who can defend set-pieces, and teams with 26 and 28-year old players.
