Can Henry maintain fantasy?

Wednesday, 11/01/2012

by Richard Leighton, Shoot's Arsenal blogger

When Thierry Henry made his Arsenal comeback from the bench against Leeds in the FA Cup, the gods of football scriptwriting really outdid themselves. You couldn’t make it up, could you?

He popped up 12 minutes from time to score the winner in such Henry-esque fashion; first touch immaculate, opening up his body, shaping to curl the ball low into the far corner, dispatched with such enormous composure. It was like he’d never been away.

So, has he still got it? Well, that depends on your definition of ‘it’. Has he still got blistering pace, the ability to power through defences and glide across the turf? No, he hasn’t and as the man himself readily admits his game has changed over the last four or five years.

But what he has got is impeccable vision in the final third, intelligence to know when to make runs, an unmatched calmness in front of goal, an enormous hunger to win and the ability to make things happen and win a game.

This is exactly what he did against Leeds because, make no mistake, this dour game was heading for an unwanted replay at Elland Road. Henry did what Chamakh and Arshavin (whose work rate was top class by the way) couldn’t do all night and what players like Walcott and Gervinho fail to do on a regular basis: get one chance, score one goal.

What Henry did was highlight the current squad’s lack of a natural finisher – with the obvious exception of van Persie of course – and it’s such a shame we have to give him back to New York Red Bulls at the end of February.

Personally, I had no worries about the Frenchman’s ability to still do it at the top level. Arsène Wenger had had him in training long enough to have sussed that out so what becomes fascinating now is how he is used and how far up the pecking order he is placed.

Will he play with or behind van Persie? Clearly, he won’t play instead of the Dutchman but what will be interesting is if his role as the guy who makes a handful of cameo appearances turns into something a bit more substantial.

One thing is for sure, with that moment of magic Henry has created a buzz around the red half of North London, he’s brought a freshness and an excitement that comes with any new signing.

So welcome home Thierry, you have been missed.

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