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Would It Have Made Any Difference If Henry Had Not Left After 2006/2007

Oxeki

Match Day Thread Merchant
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Country: Nigeria

Player:Saliba
I saw a similar thread on redcafe. It's an interesting question though. Would it have helped push us over the line in 2007/2008 since our biggest issue was the injury to Eduardo and RVP?
 

Rex Stone

Long live the fighters
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I don’t know because the 4-4-1-1 with Cesc behind Adebayor worked really well.

I don’t know how you fit Henry into that and whether it would have killed the rhythm of the other two.

Think what cost us was selling Lassana Diarra in January that year. Flamini got injured and Gilberto was absolutely finished as a player by that point and the season fell apart.

Keep Diarra and I can see us squeaking by Liverpool in the CL and maybe losing to Utd in the final. With the league it’s hard to tell because Utd and Chelsea that year were really f*cking good. That Utd team is one of the best teams I’ve ever seen, such a machine.

If we had Henry maybe a 4-4-2 of:

Almunia
Sagna - Kolo - Gallas - Clichy
Eboue - Cesc - Flamini - Hleb
Adebayor - Henry

Questions still over the goalkeeper though and once Flamini is injured still think we’re done either way.
 

Blood on the Tracks

AG's best friend, role model and mentor.
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Player:Rice
Yes and no I think. Henry was such a focal point for us that him leaving let Fabregas emerge from his shadow as leader.

I think injuries were starting to niggle Henry a bit by his later stages here. I'm kind of glad we didn't see him properly decline at Arsenal to be honest.

We'd probably have done a little better for a couple more years but I'm glad Henry got the chance to win the CL at Barca, being the one trophy that had always eluded him. He deserved that.

Overall I think the timing was probably about right for both Arsenal and Thierry, maybe we could have got one more season out of him, but it was a matter of time before he moved on.
 
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GeorgiaGunner

#FreeClaude
I don't think so. The issue (at the time) wasn't that we couldn't attract big players (which TH staying probably would have helped), but that we were totally unwilling to spend at all.
 

MikelHadADream

Established Member
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Don't think so. The problem that season was our inability to keep players fit. RVP, Eduardo and Rosicky all missed big chunks of the season. Henry dropped off as well in 06/07 and Ade was world class in 07/08, I'm not sure over the course of the campaign he would have given us significantly more tbh.
 

AberGooner

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Player:Gabriel
Although his last season was blighted by injuries he seemed very, I don't know, moody or depressed about leaving Highbury. Think he needed the move at the time because he regained his spark at Barca. Don't think he'd have had the patience with some of the younger players we had at the time and I think it helped some of them play freer without the presence of him there.

In my mind if we win that Birmingham game we win the league but looking back we only lost 3 games in the league and finished 4 behind arguably Ferguson's best side. That's unbelievable really. The drawn games that season really ****ed us.
 

Melquiades

Active Member
It's an interesting question.

On one hand, Cesc and Adebayor really stepped into the void created by his absence and the team's offensive production was outstanding.

On the other hand, that season was so close. We lost it basically by having 1 point from 2 games against Man U and a string of draws late in the season. Henry was a classic big-game player, and it's hard to imagine he wouldn't have rescued a result or two in the Man U games in particular. Tilt the result in one of those games and Arsenal are 2008 champions.

Impossible to answer, really.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
Do you regard 2007/2008 as a disappointing season you want to forget, or one you are proud of as a fan?
 
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UnitedBeard

An annoying Manc
Not against this.

591ca24e243c7f0d82000001.jpg


It’s a team that won the double and almost the treble if it’s not because Portsmouth David James and Sol Campbell performed like freak made so many saves.
 

SA Gunner

Hates Tierney And Wants Him Sold Immediately
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Country: South Africa

Player:Nketiah
To answer the initial question, I think Henry's departure was good for the team and club.

United were a good team, so were Chelsea, but we were also very very strong in 2007/08, never forget that.

We lost the league in the end, not due to United or Chelsea being better than us, but due to us not having the experience, referees and resolve to push on when suffering the horrific Eduardo injury. What really pains me about that side is losing Hleb, Flamini, Rosicky and Eduardo to departures and injuries at the club.

That team needed Van Persie's return and space next to Adebayor in a continued 442, keeping Hleb, Flamini, adding Nasri and dumping Gallas.
 

krackpot

Established Member
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He left a champion, and came back like a King. Returning long-term would tarnish his reputation.

Man, Wenger was ruthless those days!
 

squallman

Still Pining for Wenger
This thread is bringing back some awful memories.

Win the league that year and everything changes. It is probably the defining moment of the Emirates era. I guarantee the fans never get on Wenger's back if we win the league in 2008 first of all and some of our mercenaries probably stay.

I'll like to throw it back further tbh, would we have won the league in 1999 if Wrighty stayed? We had a few draws and narrow defeats that season and he scored 9 goals for West Ham.

The big mistake that year was not bringing back Anelka.

Forget Henry for a minute and chew on this. If we never sell Cashley to Chelsea, does Birmingham ever happen? No Clichy and No Gallas. Chelsea's defence would have been severely weakened to boot. The only question is, in this timeline does Senderos partner Kolo Toure? Who do we play at CB?
 

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