Thierry Henry (Out)

[celestis]

I actually did not read your post Scorpion. I know you post what you hear Scorpion and you are always factual and non-emotive. What I was refering to is the fact that people talk as if it has already happened and are already outlining contingency plans. Honestly, for sure nothing is certain and that includes him leaving. So I don't see why we should torture ourselves, considering we can't do anything about it anyway. However If I dont like it I should just stay away from the thread.

 

[Tegh]

30mil with one year left? 12mill at most. also, if you wanted Eto'o you would need to offer 10-15 PLUS henry to get him.

also, you lose Henry, you not only lose the goals, you also lose the assists too, and marketability.

Just wondering if you incorrectly believe Eto'o to be a better player than Henry, but I'm assuming your crazy bit in bold was down to Henry having one year left. Also, no-one's bigger than the club. If we lost Henry, it'd be the same as you losing Gerrard, although I know there'll be a few pro's from Henry's sale.

 

[asajoseph]

To be honest, the last thing I want is another drawn out, 70 page mong-fest thread, but, it seems that the Thierry Henry saga WILL turn into that. Posts on the subject have come and gone in the past, and most have ended up locked for one reason or another.

However, no matter how much some people may dislike the possibility, Henry to Barca is a legitimate topic for the Transfer Forum, so I will keep this thread open. Usual rules WILL apply though, so if the prospect of a deal gets killed, the thread will be locked (and it takes actions, not words). Also, other threads regarding Henry -> Barca or anywhere else WILL be locked, so please keep all your musing/monging confined to THIS thread.

Thanks,

Asa

 

[Ratinho]

Henry loves Arsenal Football Club, he gives his all and is our most important striker. Probably our most important player. He's a Gooner through-and-through now, there's not a chance he wants to leave. The only reason he'd leave is if Wenger & Dein want to cash-in.

Nonsense. If Henry leaves, it'll be down to Henry.

I'm sure Owen and Gerrard love Liverpool, but one walked due to what seemed a lack of oncoming success (seemed right at the time.. ), and the other would have gone if not for Chelsea refusing to give him the £100k/week he's getting at 'pool.

 

[asajoseph]

Henry would be an idiot to stay with Arsenal if we don't qualify for the Champions League next season. He's one of, if not THE, best players in the world, coming towards the end of the prime years of his career, and will desparately want to win the biggest trophy in club football at least once before he retires - the last thing he wants to do is tie himself to a club that won't even appear in that competition.

So what would it mean for Arsenal? Well, it'd be another setback in our quest to put 60'000 bums on seats over the next five years. He is, without a doubt, the best all-round attacking player in the league, he scores, he creates, and generally makes other teams soil themselves whenever he's got the ball. A lot of great things have been written about how good Thierry is, and I feel no need to repeat them here, other than to say that I tend to agree with them!

But, all of that said, I still cannot help but feel that selling Henry now would not be a completely unmitigated disaster. First of all, the size of the contract we seem ready to offer him frightens me. Yes, in the short term he'd be worth every penny of what we offer him, but will we really be so delighted about paying him £120,000k/week by the time he's 33? There are also concerns about his health, although relatively small at this stage, but he's been regularly asked to play hurt, and play when he's not 100% by Wenger - it remains to be seen how much of a long-term impact all of this might have.

Also, I still really don't think he's a very good captain - despite the conclusions of the 'Captaincy' thread, recently posted in Arsenal talk (possibly the most * thread in A-M history, I believe), anyone who's actually played any kind of sport will tell you that having a strong leader on the field, having someone who will grab a poor performance by the scruff of the neck and turn the game around, and someone who will spur his team-mates on in the face of adversity IS incredibly important. Henry has won many games through his own individual brilliance, but I'm not sure he's ever really been able to transform the performance of an entire team. True, it's not specifically important that the leader wears an armband, but by appointing someone to the position of captain you ARE inevitably altering the dynamic of the squad, and because of our huge number of young players, he automatically becomes someone they'll turn to. It's not really a role he's suited to, and to be honest, I do suspect that Wenger was just trying to bribe him with it anyway. So, the long and short of it is, I don't want Henry as captain for another 5 years, but whilst he's still at the club, it'll be impossible to take it off him.

Finally, selling Henry will provide us with another exceptional opportunity to change the way we play the game, something which, at a time when many teams appear to have Arsenal 'figured out', could be a very welcome opportunity if handled appropriately. He has an extremely distinct way of playing, wide from the left, cutting in and sidefooting accross the keeper. No matter how predictable it may be, when he's on form nobody can stop him. But, when he's not (and that has been on a fair number of occasions this season), we've not really been able to find any other outlets consistently. I, for one, have become very frustrated on a number of occasions this seasons when Henry's been having a poor game, and instead of making runs for the midfield, hanging around on the left wing and waiting for a pass to feet, whilst the play passes him by and the midfielders end up isolated up front because the attackers aren't making runs in the right places. So of course Henry's a fantastic player, but losing him could still be looked at as an opportunity to make changes, to find new angles of attack, and to change the way we direct our play.

So, to sum up, selling Henry may be a very bold move (indeed, we may not really have much choice if we don't qualify for the CL). But, just like the Vieira affair last summer, if handled properly it doesn't have to be a disaster. The Vieira issue wasn't dealt with properly, and it's clear that the club (and, I suspect Wenger too) know that. Henry, if sold, will need to be replaced, and despite his poor form this season (on the whole), I still think Torres could be the man to do that. We'd need to make some more bold moves in the transfer market to maintain our reputation as a top club, but I think Wenger's more concerned with results on the pitch than creating a media-frenzy. With an attacking line going forward of RVP, Walcott, Torres and Adebayor, with Cesc, Reyes, Hleb, Diaby, and any other new signings supplying from the midfield, the future is still incredibly bright. Henry will leave Arsenal one day. His form will drop off one day, and one day we'll be without him. If that happens a couple of years early, so be it, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[black187]

Spanish papers are at it again:
Click

 

[Bergy_1995]

Good for them.

 

[Tony Montana]

Henry would be an idiot to stay with Arsenal if we don't qualify for the Champions League next season. He's one of, if not THE, best players in the world, coming towards the end of the prime years of his career, and will desparately want to win the biggest trophy in club football at least once before he retires - the last thing he wants to do is tie himself to a club that won't even appear in that competition.

So what would it mean for Arsenal? Well, it'd be another setback in our quest to put 60'000 bums on seats over the next five years. He is, without a doubt, the best all-round attacking player in the league, he scores, he creates, and generally makes other teams soil themselves whenever he's got the ball. A lot of great things have been written about how good Thierry is, and I feel no need to repeat them here, other than to say that I tend to agree with them!

But, all of that said, I still cannot help but feel that selling Henry now would not be a completely unmitigated disaster. First of all, the size of the contract we seem ready to offer him frightens me. Yes, in the short term he'd be worth every penny of what we offer him, but will we really be so delighted about paying him £120,000k/week by the time he's 33? There are also concerns about his health, although relatively small at this stage, but he's been regularly asked to play hurt, and play when he's not 100% by Wenger - it remains to be seen how much of a long-term impact all of this might have.

Also, I still really don't think he's a very good captain - despite the conclusions of the 'Captaincy' thread, recently posted in Arsenal talk (possibly the most * thread in A-M history, I believe), anyone who's actually played any kind of sport will tell you that having a strong leader on the field, having someone who will grab a poor performance by the scruff of the neck and turn the game around, and someone who will spur his team-mates on in the face of adversity IS incredibly important. Henry has won many games through his own individual brilliance, but I'm not sure he's ever really been able to transform the performance of an entire team. True, it's not specifically important that the leader wears an armband, but by appointing someone to the position of captain you ARE inevitably altering the dynamic of the squad, and because of our huge number of young players, he automatically becomes someone they'll turn to. It's not really a role he's suited to, and to be honest, I do suspect that Wenger was just trying to bribe him with it anyway. So, the long and short of it is, I don't want Henry as captain for another 5 years, but whilst he's still at the club, it'll be impossible to take it off him.

Finally, selling Henry will provide us with another exceptional opportunity to change the way we play the game, something which, at a time when many teams appear to have Arsenal 'figured out', could be a very welcome opportunity if handled appropriately. He has an extremely distinct way of playing, wide from the left, cutting in and sidefooting accross the keeper. No matter how predictable it may be, when he's on form nobody can stop him. But, when he's not (and that has been on a fair number of occasions this season), we've not really been able to find any other outlets consistently. I, for one, have become very frustrated on a number of occasions this seasons when Henry's been having a poor game, and instead of making runs for the midfield, hanging around on the left wing and waiting for a pass to feet, whilst the play passes him by and the midfielders end up isolated up front because the attackers aren't making runs in the right places. So of course Henry's a fantastic player, but losing him could still be looked at as an opportunity to make changes, to find new angles of attack, and to change the way we direct our play.

So, to sum up, selling Henry may be a very bold move (indeed, we may not really have much choice if we don't qualify for the CL). But, just like the Vieira affair last summer, if handled properly it doesn't have to be a disaster. The Vieira issue wasn't dealt with properly, and it's clear that the club (and, I suspect Wenger too) know that. Henry, if sold, will need to be replaced, and despite his poor form this season (on the whole), I still think Torres could be the man to do that. We'd need to make some more bold moves in the transfer market to maintain our reputation as a top club, but I think Wenger's more concerned with results on the pitch than creating a media-frenzy. With an attacking line going forward of RVP, Walcott, Torres and Adebayor, with Cesc, Reyes, Hleb, Diaby, and any other new signings supplying from the midfield, the future is still incredibly bright. Henry will leave Arsenal one day. His form will drop off one day, and one day we'll be without him. If that happens a couple of years early, so be it, as far as I'm concerned.

Nice post

 

[Growler]

Gerrard was offered 120k by chelsea, he signed for less to stay with liverpool

Also, I did mean that you would have to pay with Henry for Eto'o purely because he has 1 year left.

Henry is an awesome player, and the parallels are with Gerrard. Losing Gerrard would set us back 2 years. the difference being that with Gerrard we would get 30-35mil, whereas Henry with 1 year left holds the aces.

Also, with Gerrard, the impact on other teams would be reduced. would he play with the same passion for another club as he does liverpool? Henry on the other hand seems to be more talent based rather than passion (if that makes sense!)

Personally, would like for him to stay, and the way things stand, he has an offer from Barca, and an offer from Arsenal. Basically, he can choose whichever he likes. Worse still, he doesn't have to decide until late august too (See Owen) so if the gods conspire against you, he could really give you the ****s, by playing initially in the new stadium but still leaving for Barca.

The other thing is, if Barca buy well in the summer, like they have been, and Arsenal continue to buy 'potential' he may be tempted. Also, if Barca go on and beat chelsea, and you lose to Real that could have an impact too. Although, imagine the other way round!!

 

[adjie]

doubt etoo would be in a swap deal. Henry-Etoo-Ronaldinho would be unstopabble.

And where will be Messi ? On loan ? Nahh....

I doubt effectivity of Henry and Eto'o partnership.
Anyway, that's Barca's problem.
Agree with asajoseph. The sooner will be better.

I'd be happy if AFC receive 12-18 mil. (not 30!) to be spent properly.
Still, i don't believe big-guns like Torres etc. will be keen to move
if we don't qualify for CL.

End of chit-chat, hopefully AW will shock us in RM (and TH) games.

 

[putra_sas]

if u guys read what asajoseph wrote earlier in page 2, you'll love this guy..

he made it look so simple in a very direct explanation.

you r the best asa....

 

[Gunner4Eva]

if u guys read what asajoseph wrote earlier in page 2, you'll love this guy..

he made it look so simple in a very direct explanation.

you r the best asa....

Always good to have fans.

 

[Tris_1]

30mil with one year left? 12mill at most. also, if you wanted Eto'o you would need to offer 10-15 PLUS henry to get him.

also, you lose Henry, you not only lose the goals, you also lose the assists too, and marketability.

to replce him, you need someone who will be synonamous (sp?) with the arsenal name too. Cashley could have been that guy if he wanted.

Anybody know how many years left for Paddy's contract before he move to juve?

 

[TheEconomist]

just read that Larson will be leaving Barcelona at the end of the season. Just guess work but it could be because something has been agreed?

 

[sabret00the]

what's everyone think of the henry to inter 'deal'?

 

[Ricky_AFC]

what's everyone think of the henry to inter 'deal'?

imo very unlikely. I just think that if Henry left he would be able to choose nearly any of the top clubs to go to, and would go to a better team than Inter.

 

[sabret00the]

what's everyone think of the henry to inter 'deal'?

imo very unlikely. I just think that if Henry left he would be able to choose nearly any of the top clubs to go to, and would go to a better team than Inter.

well rumour is that we've told Inter he's there's for £20m if he decided to leave, while we're grateful for his service, we've decided where he'll be going.

 

[burnsjed]

That isn't some thing you have tried to instigate sabre old chap is it? 8)

 

[sabret00the]

nah this one's down to NOTW.

 

[Tegh]

20 bad boys in the bag, mm ''delish''.