Wenger : Henry going over the hill

zocoss SG

Thierry Henry: not getting any younger

What's that going over the hill? It's Thierry Henry apparently. Arsene Wenger reportedly studied "physiological statistics and read-outs" and came to the conclusion that the French forward was now past it. An Arsenal insider told the Daily: "Arsene was given the statistics, hard and fast figures, about Thierry's performance levels. "If he'd wanted to keep Henry, he would have remained. But the stats suggested his performance levels were drifting away pretty rapidly."

The decision to let Thierry Henry join Barcelona for £16m was another in line with Wenger's policy of cashing in on top stars such as Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira when he believes they are on the downward slope. Wenger always knew there was something special about Henry, having first linked up with him at Monaco.

However, even the Arsenal boss could not have foreseen the impact Henry would make after he arrived at Highbury in August 1999 for £10.5 million - which was considered something of a gamble for the then out-of-sorts Juventus winger. After failing to find the net in his first 10 games for the Gunners, Henry would go on to become both the club record scorer and also their most influential player of all time.

iceFatboy SG

friend, something known as age or motivation..
either can led him not to perform..

zocoss SG

To be fair to Arsene Wenger, he does have a point… Cos whats the point to keep him and in 1 to 2 yrs time he would be useless and worthless to them. Might as well sell him now and use the money to buy a younger striker that can last much longer and may still have a value when his contract ends…

red_amoeba SG

I think the story is only half truth - I believe part of the reason is due to disagreement & dis-illusion about Arsenal future.

Look at Henry's performance in the past seasons - after winning the trophy in style, the Gunners are their pale self with departure of Viera. If AW theory of selling off old stars, why did Berkamp played so long? Surely, being the talisman that Henry is, he can still play a role supporting Van Persie, if anything else. Moreover, Arsenal can still sign Edurado (spelling) and Henry to play the support striker.

Moreover, I believe Henry can still shine esp at Barcelona, they are a team with ambition and you can bet they will bounce back with vengance after losing this year's title to Real Madrid and they are bubbling with stars.

it remains to be seen how long AW takes to gel this team or maybe not too long if he decides to leave Arsenal as well for greener pastures.

iceFatboy SG

rem, all players won't be able to perform at their peak forever.

but with Henry, if he plays his heart out for 1-2yrs, better than some with 10-20years. but that's just my take.

stellazio SG

Well, to let go of your club's symbol and legend, its abit of a shock to the younger ones who looks up to him.

For example Walcott has states before that his idol was Henry, and the chance to work with him lured him to Arsenal. How will they feel?

And i can tell you, even if Henry can't peform at his best, the role he can play in guiding youngers is huge. How much they can learn from him is anyone's guess.