Henry

15th November 2015: Wilshere boost + Henry and Vieira as potential successors to Wenger

Posted on by TremendArse

Sunday salutations. Some good news to begin with this evening as The Mirror’s Steve Stammers has reported Jack Wilshere is on course for a return to full fitness in time for Arsenal’s Boxing Day trip to Southampton.

Having suffered a fractured fibula in training on the eve of the new season, Wilshere’s availability for the busiest portion of the season would obviously be a big boost for Arsene Wenger and the squad, so fingers crossed his recovery continues to progress without any setbacks between now and then.

In the same piece, it’s also revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the most likely of our injured payers to be fit for the game at West Brom on Saturday. Hector Bellerin and Aaron Ramsey shouldn’t be far behind the Ox in making a return too, considering all three were recently reported to be likely to make their comebacks immediately after this international break.

Elsewhere, two members of our 2004 Invincibles’ squad have had their say on the possibility of Thierry Henry taking over as Arsenal manager once Arsene decides to step down. First up, it’s Robert Pires, who said:

Can I see Thierry Henry taking over from Arsene Wenger? Yes, why not? He is working on his badges. He’s involved with the U19 team at Arsenal’s academy. He’s preparing himself step by step and he wants to get his badges. Question is; would Arsenal want Henry? It depends on the board, the chairman. I can see Henry, as well as Vieira. It’s up to the club to prepare well for the post-Arsene era. That’s crucial.

Gilberto Silva agrees, but thinks the job may come too soon for Thierry, saying:

Maybe one day he could be Arsenal manager. For Thierry when Wenger leaves be quite soon. Maybe he needs more time, but one day he can do it. He’s doing the right thing working with the youngsters, he’s learning day by day. He knows Arsenal.

Frankly, I’d be flabbergasted if Henry succeeded Arsene in the hot-seat, mainly because he’s got about as much of a track record of successfully managing a top-level club as I have.

It’s also worth remembering than when it was put to the boss fairly recently that Henry might one day follow in his footsteps, he basically said his former striker had a lot to learn. So if we assume Arsene will have a big say on who is named his successor, unless Henry makes huge strides in his coaching career over the next couple of years, it’s hard to see him as our next manager.

Patrick Vieira, who has managed the Man City reserve team and now taken on his first, first-team manager role in New York, is a couple of steps ahead of Thierry in the regard, so perhaps he’s the more likely Invincible to be a contender.

Personally, I would want us to go out and get the best proven manager possible when the time comes, and if one day Henry or Vieira prove themselves as good at managing teams as they were at playing the game, then they clearly become stand-out candidates.

Another short post today, but don’t blame me, blame the international break.

Till next week.

16th October 2015: Premier League Preview – Watford the first of 7 games in 21 days

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy Friday folks. After a tedious two-week break, club football returns when we travel to Watford tomorrow evening to kick-start a relentless run of fixtures for Arsenal over the next month or so.

We follow up our trip to Vicarage Road by hosting Bayern Munich on Tuesday and Everton next Saturday, before traveling to Sheffield Wednesday, then Swansea, all before the end of the month. After that it’s Bayern in Germany on November 4th before the north London derby at Emirates stadium four days later, taking us up to the next international break.

That’s seven games in 21 days across three different competitions, which will not only have a huge say on whether we really are set to challenge for the league this season, but also shape our campaign in terms of Europe.

Will we pull off a minor miracle and leave ourselves with a realistic chance of progressing from our Champions League group? Or will it be a Europa League debut or maybe even complete elimination from continental competition? The next three weeks will give us a much better idea and needless to say, savvy squad rotation will be key to our chances of success.

Bayern are clearly the stronger of our next two opponents yet Arsene Wenger suggested at his press conference yesterday that he’ll pick his first-choice team against Watford. When asked if his selection would be influenced by our critical encounter with the German champions on Tuesday evening, he said:

Not at all. For me the most important game is Watford because the Premier League is the most important competition, with the Champions League. I would say the Premier League is the most important competition for us.

You can understand what Arsene means here. We obviously start every season with winning the Premier League and Champions League as our two main targets but given our start in Europe, perhaps there’s an acceptance that a first success in Europe’s premier competition will have to wait for at least another year, so there’s little point in jeopardizing a win at Watford by resting players for midweek.

Then again, if you’re more of an optimist, you’ll point out that four group games remain to be played, so qualification is still in our hands and we should do everything we can to make it happen. I guess it depends on your outlook. It’s certainly a bit of a dilemma for the boss but then that’s what he’s paid for so let’s hope he gets his selection right in both games and we can secure two wins.

Team news is that everyone is reportedly in contention bar the three long-termers Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky, although Laurent Koscielny faces a late test on his hamstring and Arsene was due to assess others returning from national team duty a little further before deciding his 11.

In terms of our history against tomorrow’s hosts, despite the first fixture between the two teams taking place as long ago as February 1906 (a 3-0 FA Cup win for us), we’ve only met on a further 20 occasions over the proceeding 109 years or so, with Arsenal winning 10, drawing one and losing nine. But we have won each of our last five games against Watford, stretching back to a 1-0 Premier League success at Highbury in September 1999, when a solitary goal from Nwankwo Kanu gave us all three points.

The game against The Hornets that sticks out for me though, came a year later in April 2000, when a brace from Thierry Henry and one from Ray Parlour put us three up by half time. One of Henry’s strikes in that game saw him weave past a couple of defenders before curling one into the far corner and wheeling away, I think, with his top pulled over his head Fabrizio Ravenelli-style. Thinking back, it was one of the first times it dawned on me that we may have a special player on our hands.

Who knows, maybe Theo will do something similar tomorrow and show he’s got more in common with Thierry than just blistering pace and the number 14. Considering our record goalscorer is likely to be on duty for Sky for the match, I’m guessing we might just get a reminder of that game and his his goals in the build-up to kick-off.

Back post-match.

COYG!

8th September 2015: Our original Gallic super-striker says Giroud’s ‘not so bad’

Posted on by TremendArse

Like him or loathe him, in his relatively short spell at the club, Nicolas Anelka was a great player for Arsenal. After arriving from PSG in February 1997, the then 17 year old went on to score 28 goals from 90 appearances, including our second in the 1998 FA Cup Final.

He undeniably played a huge role in our Double success in his first full season, and finished the 98-99 campaign as our leading scorer with 17 Premier League goals, being named young PFA Young Player of the Year in recognition of his efforts.

Of course, his tender years, a dodgy attitude and reportedly bad advice from his brothers put paid to any chance of a longer career in north London, and in August 1999, Anelka was sold to Real Madrid for a record fee which famously paid for both our new training ground at London Colney, as well as a certain Mr Thierry Henry. To say Anelka worked out well for us, despite rancour over his forced departure, would be a tad of an understatement.

Anyway, Anelka has hinted in the past that he regrets leaving Arsenal, expressed his admiration for Arsene Wenger and generally sounded very complimentary about the Gunners. Now player-manager of Indian Super League side Mumbai City, the nomadic Frenchman has been speaking about compatriot Olivier Giroud and drawing a comparison with his own time with the Gunners. He said:

Arsene did the same with me – when Ian Wright was there, he didn’t buy anyone and I had to do the job up front. He believed in me and in the end I played regularly and played well. He made the same choice with Giroud. Arsene believes in his team, that’s why he hasn’t spent money. He believes in Giroud because he thinks he will score a lot of goals, which he already has done. When you look at the statistics he’s not so bad. Arsenal won something last season, won something the season before, so why not again? But people have to wait and see and then speak at the end of the season. If they don’t win anything, then you can say something. However, people have to trust Arsene. He knows what he is doing.

Anelka also aired his belief that Arsene is largely responsible for making Arsenal a bigger club than when he took over, highlighted the increased competition to win the title compared to when he donned the red and white, and praised the strength of our current squad, suggesting it is far more talented than people often give it credit for:

Before Arsene, Arsenal were good but they became a bigger club with Arsene Wenger. The way they play football is amazing. In the end, we have to trust him. Of course, you can always say when you don’t win that it wasn’t good enough because the fans want to take the title. But it has become much harder now because you have Man City with big money, Chelsea with big money, Man United, Liverpool. When I was there it was maybe only United who were very strong. Now you have five teams who can fight for the title. You can always say they need to buy someone up front, but previously they have bought Mesut Ozil, who’s a good player, Alexis Sanchez is a good player. They can score goals and give good assists. People just want big names in attack, but Giroud is good enough to score goals. And behind him there are big players who can supply him so he can score a lot of goals. Arsenal have a strong squad – people don’t see it, but they do.

Much as I agree with a lot of what Anelka says here, I think most people do accept that this is a very good Arsenal squad right now, but are frustrated at what was a very quiet transfer window compared to other clubs, and perhaps take issue with the club’s line that there were no available players, anywhere in the world, who could have improved our squad.

As far as strikers go, although better finishers than Giroud changed clubs this summer, it’s likely Arsene didn’t feel they were enough of an upgrade on his current lot to be worth pursuing. The counter argument of course, is that even if you only find incremental improvement in the market, you should do it, particularly when you reportedly have the disposable income to take a punt or two.

But there’s not much we can do about it now and as we approach a return to club football, It’s time for Giroud to put his nightmarish international break behind him, show Arsene was right to go with what he has and repay the trust put in him to lead the line this season.

See you Weds.