When I last filed an entry on this blog, Arsenal had just beaten at home by Manchester United, to the audible irritation of a mutinous crowd. Â It got worse. Â In the next game, an FA Cup Fourth Round tie at home to Aston Villa, Arsenal found themselves two nil down at half-time, and staring down the barrel of a fourth defeat in five games. Â Since then, there has been a remarkable upturn in our fortunes. Â An upturn which, I should add, has coincided with my enforced absence. Â Perhaps I should stay away.
First off, Arsenal fought back to beat Aston Villa 3-2, scoring a trio of second half goals inside eight minutes. Â Then a 0-0 draw at Bolton was followed up with a stunning 7-1 victory over Blackburn – a game memorable for the first Premier League goals from the emerging Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and a stoppage time strike from Thierry Henry on what could be his final Emirates appearance.
It was not, however, to be the last contribution of Henry’s loan stint. Â On Saturday, in the final Premier League appearance of his farewell tour, the man who writes scripts with a swish of his right boot rather than a pen emerged from the bench. Â There was just half an hour to play in our game against in form Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Â After Aaron Ramsey had clawed back an equaliser to James McClean’s opener, Henry’s expertly volleyed home a stoppage time winner to hand Arsenal a vital three points. Â 229 Arsenal goals and, with a game against AC Milan to come, still counting.
It was a massive result on a day which saw Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle all succumb to defeat. Â As things stand we’re currently in fourth place, which is invaluable considering that we are about to enter a period of fixtures that will almost certainly define our season. Â We return to Sunderland in the FA Cup and face Milan in Europe, whilst our next three league games see us come up against Tottenham, Liverpool, and Newcastle.
It looks like we’ll have to do without Per Mertesacker for that period, after the big German was stretchered off in the North East. Â He’s actually been a very consistent figure in the Arsenal side – of the outfield players, only Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott, and Robin van Persie have started more games this season. Â The one saving grace is that his injury comes at a time when we are able to welcome back Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs on the flanks, giving Arsene a rare opportunity to pair Vermaelen and Koscielny in the middle.
Another player we’ll soon be welcoming back in to the fold is Gervinho, who is expected to return to London on Tuesday. Â His African Cup of Nations campaign ended in unceremonious fashion as he missed the crucial penalty in the shoot-out which saw underdogs Zambia take the title. Â The players lack of confidence in front of goal was underlined by the fact that, despite being an attacker, he was Ivory Coast’s ninth penalty taker, even refusing to take the eighth and sending defender Kolo Toure up instead. Â If you haven’t seen the penalty, it’s about as bad as you imagine it to be. Â Gervinho has undoubted qualities, but for a man whose tax return reads ‘footballer’, he is surprisingly bad at the actual ‘kicking the ball’ bit. Â Nevertheless, one has to feel sorry for any player who is the victim of a shootout, and let’s hope it doesn’t knock his confidence too much for the remaining period of the season.
It’s nice to be back and blogging again. Â It’s also nice to be able to write positive things. Â There’s nothing like a few decent results to ease any tension among the fanbase.
An exciting trip to Milan looms large, and Thierry will soon be back in the San Siro. Â Would you bet against one final magical moment?
Yesterday, Arsenal lost 2-1 to Manchester United, which is no great disaster. It’s certainly an improvement on the 8-2. However, yesterday Arsene Wenger lost a lot more than a football match. In one moment, he seemed to lose the trust of the Arsenal faithful.
The discontent surrounded the substitution of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Chamberlain had been Arsenal’s most promising attacking player, and had just created an equalising goal for Robin van Persie. However, Arsene decided to replace him with Andrey Arshavin, who is currently as far from being a fan favourite as he is from his hometown of St. Petersburg.
The decision was met with huge boos. Even Robin van Persie visibly declared his disbelief at his manager’s choice. As Oxlade-Chamberlain trotted off, there was some brief respite as the fans praised his contribution. But when Arshavin subsequently took to the field, the booing returned – louder and longer than it had been before. To be honest, it was unclear if the jeers were for Arshavin, for Arsene, or both.
Let me start with the decision to bring Chamberlain off. Â Sources in the Arsenal camp indicated he was physically tiring, and that doesn’t surprise me in the least. An 18-year old on his first Premier League start was never likely to complete ninety minutes, however well he was doing. The explanation that he was suffering from fatigue seems to me to be entirely credible.
And even if the switch was purely tactical, it did not merit the howls of derision it received. I thought the behaviour of the fans in the stadium yesterday (and before anyone labels me an ‘armchair’ fan, I was there myself) was pretty pathetic. It was the sort of stuff I’m more accustomed to seeing from Blackburn fans. After a first-half in which the Emirates lived up to its ‘library’ reputation, swathes of the crowd managed to wake up to boo the team off at halftime. And then to follow that up by greeting a substitute with boos? Ridiculous.
Having this debate last night on twitter, many fans felt inclined to point out that the substitution “ruined our positive momentum”. Yeah, well thanks for levelling things up with all the booing. That sure helped restore the positive vibe.
Truth be told, folks can say what they like on twitter. Or here. Pretty much anywhere. Â But when you’re in the stadium, you get behind your team. Let’s not forget, at this point in the game we were drawing 1-1 with the Champions, and the fans were chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” at the manager.
This is the same manager who took the bold decision to start Oxlade-Chamberlain in the first place. The same manager who made an intelligent and effective change at half-time, introducing natural fullback Nico Yennaris for the struggling Johan Djourou. Â This, lest we forget, was Arsene Wenger.
I suppose the vitriol on display is a symptom of a relationship under strain. The reaction yesterday was about more than one substitution – it’s about 6 trophless years, a baffling transfer policy, and most recently a run of three consecutive defeats. Patience with Arsene has been thinning and yesterday, for many, it gave way.
I do understand how those fans feel. I occasionally feel exactly the same. I merely don’t  agree with how they chose to express it. We are in a very sticky situation now. To be without a league point in January is not good. We’re in a poor run of form that, in the battle for fourth place, we can ill-afford.
Truth be told, I think our record is simply levelling out to something approaching an accurate reflection of our ability. Robin van Persie carried us to a long unbeaten run pre-Christmas, but I think in that spell we did disproportionately well. Â Expectations may have been raised higher than was appropriate, and that seems to have led to complacency in the transfer market.
Despite the disparity in scoreline, the feeling among Arsenal fans is very much as it was after the Old Trafford hammering. We’re staring down the barrel of catastrophe with a few days to dust off the chequebook and sort it out. This time, however, I’ve no confidence that we’ll get any reinforcements, let alone half a dozen.
I opened the blog up by saying that losing to United is not, in itself, a disaster. I stand by that. However, finishing outside the top four, for both financial and footballistic reasons, would be. And at the moment, that feels increasingly probable. If there are any steps Arsene and the board can take over the next week to avoid that fate, they simply must. The natives are increasingly restless. – I’ve typed this rather hurriedly on an iPad, so don’t have the usual fancy links and stuff. Forgive me.
Arsene is not really the sort of manager to deliver a rousing team-talk before a big game. Â Fortunately, today, he doesn’t need to.
All he need do is print out the following, and tack it to the dressing room wall.
I’m sorry to have made you look at that again. Â But it’s important we do. Â It’s important the players do. Â And it’s important Arsene does. Â On that day, Arsenal let down themselves and their supporters. Â That simply cannot happen today.
I don’t necessarily expect a victory.  Arsenal come in to this game in the familiar position of being out-of-form and embattled with injuries and African absentees.  What I do expect, however, is that Arsenal play with passion and a desire to avenge the humiliation suffered in August.
In the aftermath of the Old Trafford game, I said:
“What sickened me more than anything was to watch this team perform without pride, and without belief.”
The last few months have seen a steady process of recuperation, interrupted by a recent blip. Â Arsenal need to fight, to battle, and to allow the fans to banish the memory of that shameful day from their minds.
Our team is dependent on two fitness tests: one for Thomas Vermaelen, and one for Thierry Henry. Â If fit, both could start. Â Vermaelen is reportedly the more likely to make it, and would come in at left-back for Ignasi Miquel. Â That could be vital – United’s main threat comes from their wingers in Nani and Valencia, so our makeshift full-backs will have to be at the top of their game to cope.
If he’s ready to go, Henry could start ahead of the out of sorts Andrey Arshavin.  Suggestions two hours before kick-off, however, are that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be handed a first Premier League start.  Chamberlain actually made an inauspicious debut as a substitute in the 8-2, and after a relatively impressive cameo at Swansea could be thrown in to the fray today.
At least if he is, we know he’ll play with courage, and with fire. Â His team-mates had better do the same. Â They owe us that.
I am not a fan of blaming referees for poor results…
…especially in a match like this, when Arsenal had ample time to get back in control of the game. Â Slow-motion replays may have shown that Nathan Dyer was guilty of simulation, but in real-time it looked very much like a clumsy tackle. Â When you become the first side to score twice at the Liberty Stadium this season and still conspire to lose, the signs suggest our major flaw was a familiar one: a feeble defence.
Still, I’d rather have Sagna back than a substandard signing…
Inevitably, there will be calls to strengthen the squad. Â I understand why: Miquel and Djourou struggled at full-back against the pace of Dyer and Sinclair. Â But with the likes of Sagna and Gibbs now just a few weeks away from returning to action, I’m just not sure if players of the requisite quality are available in this window.
If I thought Arsene could buy or loan a better reserve full-back than Djourou or Miquel, I’d be all for it. Â But none of the names I’ve seen so far – Wayne Bridge, for example – meet that criteria.
Aaron Ramsey was suffering from acute Gerrard-itis…
I don’t doubt Aaron Ramsey’s work-rate. Â I have more faith than most in his technical ability. Â Where I do think he has plenty of room for improvement is on the mental side of the game. Â That’s understandable: he is only just 21. Â Unfortunately, after the departure of Cesc and with Wilshere’s injury, he has been a handed a huge responsibility as the main creative midfielder in our team.
Ramsey’s problem is that he tries to do too much. Â I’ve always said he reminds me of a young Steven Gerrard, in part because they occasionally seem to share a desire to win games on their own. Â Yesterday, on Welsh soil and with the crowd on his back, Ramsey’s head wasn’t quite right. Â A footballer can try too hard. Â Sometimes he would benefit from keeping his cool, and keeping it simple. Â He will learn.
Theo Walcott has regressed in the last few weeks…
In the early part of the season, Walcott was one of our few commendable performers.  Since the win at Chelsea, however, his form has dropped off considerably.  His goal yesterday was his first since that game in October, and a rare moment of quality in another average performance.  I have never bought in to the claims that he is a “good finisher” – for every good goal there is a horrendous miss.  In his brief cameo yesterday, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain showed that he already has more awareness and technical ability.
Thierry Henry…
…impressed me on and off the pitch. Â I thought he looked sharp and dynamic when he came on with half an hour to go. Â Unfortunately, few of his team-mates seemed to be on the same wavelength. Â Henry passed the ball with more speed and urgency than almost anyone else on the field – but often no-one had anticipated or made a run to match his vision.
As for him having words with an Arsenal fan who had booed his own team, I say that’s fair enough. Â Robin might be the captain but Henry is probably the most obvious link between the fans and the players, and if he is prepared to take on that sort of responsibility then I’m all for it.
The diagonal through ball from Alex Song was perfect. It could have been played by Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, or even Dennis Bergkamp. The first touch was immaculate, the body shape breathtakingly familiar. The giant clock suspended from the Emirates canopy seemed to stop, dead. Time wound back to 2004 and, briefly, Thierry Henry was invincible again.
As he drew back his right-foot to strike the ball, the Emirates was momentarily hushed. Then followed the trademark sidefoot strike. Before the ball crossed the line, Henry glanced across at the linesman. He just had to check. Check that this was really happening, that it wasn’t a dream, that a cruel flag wasn’t about to deny him his moment.
He knew, of course, that the ball would settle in the bottom corner. When he’s wearing red and white, it invariably does.
The reception when Henry had come on as a 68th substitute had been deafening. When he scored his 78th minute goal, a storm of anticipation broke in an explosion of pure joy.
Great athletes write their own storylines. Last night, Thierry Henry took a leaden game and carved himself a story, a headline and an accompanying photograph. Another moment, another memory, another myth. A 227th goal, and 60,000 very lucky Arsenal fans there to witness it.
Henry said after the game that it was the first goal he’d scored as an Arsenal fan. You could see that in his celebration. The nonchalance and the shrug of old were replaced with pure, unbridled ecstasy.
Everything else was eerily recognisable. He might not have the blistering pace of yesteryear – but he might not need it. Sprinting speed might be temporary, but it seems class is permanent. The control and finish were as good as anything Henry produced in his heyday. Put simply: given ten opportunities, Marouane Chamakh could not have scored that goal last night. Henry needed just one. Arsenal should only require occasional cameos from their ageing talisman. Yet on this evidence, they could well be match-winning cameos.
What’s certain is that Henry won’t tarnish his legacy. Indeed, last night his statue it seemed to swell and shimmer more than ever before.
Last night was, in many respects, the perfect night for an Arsenal fan. That Arsenal fan, I should add, is named Thierry Henry. He Has Returned. Long Live The King.
