The Dark Side of the Icon

Arsenal’s home game against Sheffield United brought the return of the talisman and no-one was surprised that Thierry Henry had a part to play in all three Gunners goals. He flicked the ball through for Cecs Fabregas to tee up William Gallas, who gleefully volleyed in the 65th minute opener. Four minutes later he broke down the left and flashed in a cross which a bewildered Phil Jagielka could only slice into the far corner. And ten minutes from the end of normal time he was on hand to head (yes, ‘head’) home Emmanuel Eboue’s perfect cross.

So everything in the Gunners’ garden is lovely, surely, now that the talisman is back. Well, yes and no. There is a peculiar inconsistency about Thierry Henry’s presence which has not escaped the attention of certain critics and many Arsenal supporters, even if they find it difficult to explain. They read articles explaining how their idol studies players like Paul Dickov and Kevin Davies to see what he can learn from them, but see little evidence of the former’s ‘in your face’ perpetual motion or the latter’s hold up play and heading power in Thierry’s performances. They are alarmed by the fact that Arsenal’s world class striker is quiet for long periods and they are concerned by some of his body language – a tendency to frown and glare at some of the younger players for a slightly misplaced or mistimed pass when a gesture of encouragement might be more productive, the kind of encouragement he is only too willing to offer when things are going well.

In the light of this, some Arsenal fans have even begun to think the unthinkable and to suggest that perhaps it would not, after all, have been the end of the world if Thierry Henry had left the club. They point out that Arsenal have won important games – Champions League ties and visits to Old Trafford for instance - without him, and suggest that some of the younger players tend to be less inhibited when he is not there.

If that is the case, it is sad for many reasons. Thierry Henry is not merely a world class player and a great entertainer at the height of his powers, he is arguably the world’s greatest player – or at least on a par with Ronaldinho. He is also the captain of Arsenal, the club he loves and where he chose to stay when he was so much in demand elsewhere. He plays in a team which contains many young and impressionable players who have the ability to become Arsenal legends and he is uniquely qualified to inspire them, to exercise a powerful influence on the development of their careers and thereby the future success of the club.

All this should make him so happy and fulfilled that it’s hard to understand why he sometimes looks so miserable – almost ‘Meldrew-like’ in his grumpiness. Perhaps it would help if the 29 year old genius who was signed from Juventus in August 1999 for £10.5 million and reunited with his former manager at Monaco remembered that it took him 10 games to score his first goal for Arsenal, during which time he was shown a great deal of patience and understanding.

Now it’s payback time.