King Henry: Inspiration or Desperation

We wake up this morning to strong rumours about an imminent return to the club of the legend that is Thierry Henry. A man who is the leading goal scorer for our club, is arguably the best player we have ever had and whose statue now resides at our stadium. The rumours of a possible return have been whispered ever since Thierry started training with the team to keep his fitness in the MLS close season. However as the transfer window draws nearer, these whispers have turned into full blown shouts with even senior players such as Song and Mertesacker giving their nods of approval to such a move.

Mertesacker…

"I am very happy to play against him in training and it is a great experience," Mertesacker said. "He is playing very, very good. He is a great opportunity for us but I'm not the manager. I couldn't make a decision on what is possible for him or for us. In training, he shows his class and to have him with us is great because he shows his attitude, his experience. He still has the same attitude he showed in a lot of games at Arsenal."

Song…

"When I see him training, I am teasing him: 'You could still play with us, you know?' …"Today he has the opportunity to give us a help. A player with such stature, such potential. He would bring us a lot."

With Chamack and Gevinhio off to the ACN our options in the striking department are either a small Russian who has lost his mojo or a South Korean who is doing a good job of hiding from military service as well as from the first team! The need to add to our attacking options was clear and Arsene seems to have chosen the short term option of drafting Henry in on a 2 month contract until Chamack is back in contention. For my part, I think having him around the first team will be a morale boost for a lot of the players. Having not seen him play in a few years I do not know if he still has what it takes to be successful in the premier league but obviously Arsene has seen enough in training over the past month to convince him that he could do a job for us. The legend of the man will undoubtedly make opposition defenders nervous but the question is whether he still has the strength and skill to take advantage of this like he once did. No-one is expecting him to reproduce the form that he had for us during his first spell but if he has the same effect that Henrik Larsson had when drafted in by Man Utd, it would be a very shrewd move by Wenger.

Although I think signing him up for 2 months is positive and will improve our squad I do not think it is the solution to our problems. The very root of the issue is not that Chamack is going to the ACN so we are only left with Park. It is the fact that out of the 3 strikers we have at the club, two of them cannot score! Bringing in Henry for 2 months puts a band aid on this but it still does not solve the problem. If RVP gets injured then it would be slightly farcical that Arsenal Football Club who are in the toughest fight for 4^th place that they have ever been in will have to rely on a 34 year old who now plays in the MLS to lead the line. Bringing in Henry makes sense but buying another striker who is capable of playing in the first team on his own merit and who can share the burden with RVP on a longer term basis is not just important but is absolutely vital. Without reinforcements in January I do fear for our ability to last the pace this season. To have battled, scrapped and worked bloody hard to get to where we are now in the league from where we were at the start of the season has been an achievement. But to not reinforce the team appropriately with the funds that we all know are available would be foolish and would make the hard work in the first half of the season meaningless.

Arsene needs to ensure that we have a squad to compete. This does not only mean adding to the striking options but a versatile defender is needed and ideally an attacking midfielder who can give us another option. Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs will be adding to their squads in January and we have to do the same in a meaningful way. Henry coming to the club as a sole January signing has a whiff of desperation around it. Henry coming to the club in conjunction with a couple of quality signings in order to play a cameo role and provide motivation and experience to the team but with the team not having to rely on him as the only option would be inspirational. Over to you Arsene…