THE last three games have shown us that Thierry Henry is the problem.
He’s 29, he lost the European Cup Final and the World Cup Final in one summer, signed a fat new contract on £100,000 a week, moved to a new stadium, and under-achieved in August, September and October.
He’s had three bad games against Everton, CSKA and West Ham. He is not doing it.
Yes, Henry set up van Persie, Rosicky and Hleb but he doesn’t need to be captain to do that.
Van Persie could have scored, Rosicky should have scored, and Hleb might have had a penalty. But ref Rob Styles was in no position to see that tackle in the box by Jonathan Spector. And Spector got a toe to the ball as he made contact with Hleb’s right shin and brought him down.
It was a hard one to call in real time if the ref had a good angle. And it was difficult for viewers to call on one TV replay. And if the ref can’t see it, he can’t give it.There were two players between him and the incident.
Van Persie fired his shot into the ground and Robert Green tipped that shot round the post. And Rosicky, teed up centrally by Henry’s sublime lay-off, whacked his shot just wide.
What is a captain?
Well, Frank McLintock was a warrior, Tony Adams was a warrior, Patrick Vieira was a warrior. But Thierry Henry is a gentleman ballerina who brings to life the dazzling visions of a great choreographer.
Arsene Wenger is a not a tactican. He is a choreographer who rehearses the same ballet every day.He is supremely stubborn about his style and his choreography His stubbornness is his strength but also his weakness.
In football, the captain of a team reflects the values of the manager. He represents the way the manager wants his football to be played.
Unfortunately, Thierry Henry is the Mahatma Gandhi of football, an an apostle of peace, brotherhood and non-violence.
With him, it’s a love-in : I’m a nice guy, I wont kick you , so don’t kick me. If I knock you down, I’ll pick you up and give you a kiss.
In the tunnel before the game, Henry was joking with Reo-Coker, and drinking from the West Ham captain’s blue plastic bottle.
He sets the tone and it’s the wrong tone. He’s a big pussycat.
After losing 1-0, Henry left the field with his arm round the shoulders of Teddy Sheringham, his good friend.
While Gallas stood baffled and wounded and alone on the field, perhaps wishing he had Drogba in his team.
Thierry will do an interview on Monday He’ll do an interview on Tuesday. He’ll do his programme notes in Saturday. He’ll be plausible and diplomatic and he’ll explain it all away.
Yes, he is a huge star and legend and an astonishing goalscorer. But he is not a captain and never will be.I said that last season when he sulked after Vieira was sold and I’m saying it again now.
If Thierry Henry is captain, other players can’t give him a bollocking. If he is captain, you can’t take him off. If he is captain, he can do as he likes, although he did as he liked before he was captain, and he had the whole team playing for him
This is what Arsenal need to do : draw a line under Henry’s captaincy. A football field is a place of conflict and a ballerina should not be your captain.
So make Kolo Toure captain today. He sets a better example and he is in the McLintock-Adams-Vieira tradition.
THINGS happened last night that I can’t divulge.
But I can write about the Wenger-Pardew bust-up and I’ll do that on Tuesday.