It should have been a day for celebration. One of Arsenal’s most cherished sons, Thierry Henry, returned home to a rapturous reception. In a neat piece of symmetry, as we looked back at the career of one our all-time greats, a young striker hailing from Dagenham, Benik Afobe, was making his debut. And, with Arsenal leading thanks to a Robin van Persie header, it should have been rounded off by Arsenal lifting their own trophy in their own stadium.
Unfortunately, Henry had other ideas, splitting the defence with a typically precise pass to invoke a move that ended with Kyle Bartley turning in to his own net. Immediately, the atmosphere soured, like coagulated milk. The unpleasant stench of last season enveloped the Emirates, and the full-time whistle of a friendly game was met with booing. Yes, booing.
I can’t condone that at all. The Emirates Cup is a “Cup” only in name – otherwise our previous successes in it would mean we wouldn’t be accused of any kind of trophy drought. It is an exercise in two things: fitness and revenue. The players run around, the club make some money, and Emirates get to plaster their name all over something else. Whilst a positive performance is always a boost, the result, ultimately, doesn’t matter.
I can, however, understand the frustration. The boos were not so much for conceding an equaliser. Nor were they for failing to win another, admittedly pointless, trophy. They were boos born out of what has been yet another painful summer, in a year when Arsenal fans really needed it to go more smoothly. They were boos which were almost as articulate an expression of the concerns around the club as this piece by Amy Lawrence.
There’s still time for the situation to be rectified. There’s still time to find a resolution to the Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri stand-offs and redress the balance caused by any departure. There is time to add an experienced centre-back, or maybe even a left-back. But it is running short. The season is now less than two weeks away. Events at full-time yesterday showed that Arsenal fans are still deeply hurt by the back end of last season. The players are too, and even they are clear about wanting reinforcements. In the next couple of weeks, the manager has a chance to take decisive action, regain everybody’s trust, and make the home crowd feel that little bit better about that 6.5% extra they’ve paid to watch us in the coming months.
It’s important to remember that the game was not without positives. Gervinho continues to impress me with his direct running and movement off the ball. Having a wide player who is prepared to dart through the centre and in to the six yard box will add something to this team.
Robin van Persie looks sharp, whilst having Thomas Vermaelen fit again is a huge boost to the squad. Afobe also made a decent impression on his first-team bow, albeit in unfortunate circumstances, as Jack Wilshere was withdrawn with an injury. It doesn’t seem like a serious one, and if it means he can miss out on international duty with England then that’s probably no bad thing.
It was fantastic to see Thierry looking, in my opinion, happier than he ever did in a Barcelona shirt. Arsene had planned to give him 5 minutes in an Arsenal shirt, but the rules forbade it. That’s no bad thing: I’ve got enough memories of him in red and white to last a lifetime. There’s never been a more electrifying sight than Henry in full flow. We’ll be lucky to see his like again.
Right, that’ll do for now. Something tells me there could be plenty more to say come the end of this week…
Arsenal began their Emirates Cup campaign with a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors. It was a lively encounter, and you can get a comprehensive match report here, as well as highlights by clicking the image on the right.
Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song were all rested, so Lukasz Fabianski lined up behind a back four of Jenkinson, Koscielny, Djourou and Armand Traore. In midfield Jack Wilshere was partnered by Emmanuel Frimpong, with an an impressive attacking quartet of RVP, Nasri, Arshavin and Gervinho.
The new boy impressed on his first appearance at the Emirates, switching flanks with Arshavin and showing great pace on the counter to dart down the left and cross with his weaker foot for RVP to thrash in the opener. I was again struck by the tenacity of Emmanuel Frimpong, who looks as if he’ll provide a viable alternative to Alex Song, and a significant step forward from Denilson. The concern remains that he has chosen to represent Ghana rather than England, meaning that we’ll lose both our primary defensive midfielders in January for the African Nations Cup.
Both full-backs also did well, and with Arsene Wenger confirming after the game that Emmanuel Eboue is still likely to leave the club, Carl Jenkinson could have a big season ahead of him as understudy to Bacary Sagna. Although we don’t know much about him, we do know he comes from a family of die-hard Gooners, and having that represented out on the pitch can’t be a bad thing.
At half-time Arsene made five changes, introducing Mannone, Squillaci, Ramsey, Vela and Chamakh, then later Eboue. It was Ramsey who made the biggest and most immediate impact. With his first touch, he latched on to a loose ball after some neat footwork from Vela and powered it in to the top corner.
As the game wore on, however, our defensive frailties reared their familiar, hideous head. First Squillaci was caught in possession and Boca slid in Viatri who slammed in to Mannone’s near post. Then, within three minutes, Johan Djourou was turned too easily in the penalty area and Boca had an equaliser thanks to Pablo Mouche.
Disappointing though it was to see Arsenal concede a lead, the XI we had on the pitch at full-time was far from first choice. It was also intriguing to see that from corners we lined up with a new-look zonal marking system. It’ll be interesting to see how that one goes in competitive games.
For Boca, I was hugely impressed by Juan Riquelme. The excellent Orbinho has some great stats comparing his performance to that of Samir Nasri, who started in the central playmaking role for Arsenal. Nasri is a great footballer, with outstanding dribbling skill, but he doesn’t have the same eye for a pass that Cesc has. If, as seems increasingly likely, the captain departs, the creative burden will have to be shared more equally throughout the team.
Inevitably the manager’s post-game press conference focused more on Cesc and Nasri than the match itself. Both players were in attendance yesterday – one on the pitch and one in the stands – and I suspect that the skipper’s early exit had more to do with avoiding journalists than anything more sinister. Arsene’s answers on Cesc were much as they have been – “Cesc loves deeply this club, he loves deepy as well Barcelona” – but his stance on Nasri seems to be shifting somewhat. He said:
“If you ask me if I want to keep him, I say yes. But he needs to be committed to that as well.”
“You ask me if the two go do we need to sign one? Of course because they are two exceptional players. That’s why I personally want to keep the two.”
After weeks of insisting he would not consider losing both, suddenly it seems it’s something he may have reckon with after all. It is distressing that we as a club find ourselves in such a weak position over two players ostensibly under contract.
Nevertheless, let’s try and enjoy the football for now. Today we face New York Red Bulls, who will be very fit as they’re currently mid-season. And, of course, they have in their ranks an old friend. Unconfirmed reports suggest he might even make a cameo for the home team this afternoon. Whether he does or not, be sure to give him a hell of a welcome home.
It should have been a day for celebration. One of Arsenal’s most cherished sons, Thierry Henry, returned home to a rapturous reception. In a neat piece of symmetry, as we looked back at the career of one our all-time greats, a young striker hailing from Dagenham, Benik Afobe, was making his debut. And, with Arsenal leading thanks to a Robin van Persie header, it should have been rounded off by Arsenal lifting their own trophy in their own stadium.
