Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Never trust Politicians or Footballers

How many times do we have to put up players or their agents coming out with bullshit?

I’ve never played in Spain and never will. This is my last contract. Thierry Henry-May 2006
No such meeting took place. That is absolute rubbish. There’s never been any question of him not being at Arsenal next season. Jerome Anderson - 11th Jun 07 on reports of Barcelona agreeing a 4 year deal with Henry.
Now, of course, we know differently. Henry blaming the departure of David Dein for his decision is nonsense. Prior to his departure there was all kinds of rubbish being printed in the papers - tales of Wenger spending £40 million on players to keep Henry happy. I'm sorry, but there is no way Wenger would ever spend that kind of money just to keep another player happy.

Now we have the task of replacing a 25-30 goals a year striker. It is difficult to imagine Wenger would allow the sale of Henry unless he had a replacement lined up. Long term, I think Van Persie is capable of getting 20 goals a season, if he stays fit. What we need is everyone else to chip in, especially the Midfield players, then perhaps Henry's goals won't be missed as much.

Who knows, now Henry has gone, maybe Jose Reyes will change his mind about returning to Arsenal. Henry was forever berating him on the pitch, and that must have been a factor in Reyes not settling.

Whatever happens, I hope we make our signings quickly. The last thing we need is someone arriving on deadline day, missing the pre-season and then needing a few months to settle in.