As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
ARSENE WENGER let Thierry Henry join Barcelona because he had scientific proof the former skipper was past it.
Wenger took the final decision to sanction Henry's £16million move to the Nou Camp and his stance was backed by the Gunners board.
It emerged last night that the Arsenal boss had studied the physiological statistics and read-outs and reached the conclusion that, just like Patrick Vieira two years ago, Henry was over the hill.
An Arsenal insider said: "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 cold-blooded decision to let Henry go is further evidence of the analytical approach that has created the most successful era in Arsenal history.
bloody tabloids...
though even if titi was loosing his pace he still could have hung about ala Bergkamp. Actually no, fuck it hes gone and thats that, even though i feel wer gonna be fine without him its gonna be strange not having THE MAN in the side next season:?
Bergkamp was my hero i thought last season i would find it hard without him but it wasnt that bad plus we didn't have TH there for most of last season so we know we can carry on
That was the information that came out after Paddy was sold. It was determined that he would longer be the force in the English game that he was and the deterioration would accelerate. That's why people are missing the point when trying to judge what Paddy would have done for us based on his Italian successes. It is not comparing like with like. Far less games and the intensity level is not as high, therefore Paddy has more recovery time and can be more effective. It was reported at the time that Paddy left, the 8/9 years in the English game had taken its toll on him and the kind of ineffectiveness that we saw towards the end of his time was only going to get worse.
Whether he would still have been an asset even at below full capacity is another point.
Interesting to see what happens with Henry. The best thing he can do for us now is stick one on Chelsea, ManU or Liverpool in the European Cup (but not us, please).
Im not sure how you can scientifically judge a players skills. Can you judge his ability to dribble or finish by scientific methods. Yes you can at best determine his fitness levels and injury proneness. I personally feel we sold him a season earlier than we should have, cause i expected him to be fresh as a daisy for the next season after missing so many games last season.
Looking at it scientifically - the psychological reasons he may have left the club in my opinion is -
Henry could not take on the mantle of leader after the senior pros such as DB10, Pires and Vieira left the club. As captain he did not lead by example on the pitch - often berating his colleagues for various reasons ( I did not see him do to DB10 or Pires what he did to Reyes or RVP). According to various sources (not verifed as true) TH's presence in the dressing room was moody. I hear that younger pros would stop their chatter and laughter as he entered the room.
All in all he was a great player who will always be remembered by us but it is quite easy to trot out the past your sell by date theory when we all know it is not usually one reason that a player is transferred (see Craig Bellamy, Anelka etc. etc.)
Never heard so much crap in my life,absolute nonesense,
you're trying to tell me that Wenger couldn't tell Paddy V at
even 80% effectiveness was still a better player than most
if not all other midfielders in the Premiership? The geezer
would have been all over Lampard,Gerrard never had a
decent game against him,Carrick? Don't make me laugh!
As for Henry,well I'm sorry, but he's the "Dog's Bollocks",
and will be missed.I can't say I'm whipped up into a frenzy
over the signings we've made so far,and the news that ManUre
are in talks with Tevez just frustrates me even more,all I'd
heard was how they were finnished and chants of "U.S.A,U.S.A"
and now look at them,champions and stregthening the squad to
the extent of £50 million plus.
Liverpool go out and spend big and they are also owened by
people that have had to borrow,but do you all honestly think
that Liverpool won't be around for another 100 years?
Of course not,look, apart from those tossers down the
Kings Rd,everyone is in the same boat financially,except
some are prepared to "face up" and take them on,and
I honestly believe we should do the same.If we continue
to go down the road we're going then we'll do ourselves
more harm than good,fuck owing a few quid,I want my
Arsenal back its as simple as that.
GunnerTino wrote:Never heard so much crap in my life,absolute nonesense,
you're trying to tell me that Wenger couldn't tell Paddy V at
even 80% effectiveness was still a better player than most
if not all other midfielders in the Premiership? The geezer
would have been all over Lampard,Gerrard never had a
decent game against him,Carrick? Don't make me laugh!
As for Henry,well I'm sorry, but he's the "Dog's Bollocks",
and will be missed.I can't say I'm whipped up into a frenzy
over the signings we've made so far,and the news that ManUre
are in talks with Tevez just frustrates me even more,all I'd
heard was how they were finnished and chants of "U.S.A,U.S.A"
and now look at them,champions and stregthening the squad to
the extent of £50 million plus.
Don't you get it??? everyone at the club was fed up with the constant speculation surrounding our CAPTAIN - EVERY SINGLE SUMMER for years, which he was doing little to dispel, so when Juve made another move, DD spoke to Paddy, and when told the club had taken a neutral stance regarding Juve's offer and he apparently freaked to the point where he even fell out with our former Vice Chairman!
Apparently he wanted the club to fight keep him again, whether it was ego driven or not I don't know, but AW must have been well pissed off cos nobody's let go without his say so, and PHW is firmly on the record as saying " I think he tugged Arsene's tail once too often"!
GunnerTino you say you want your Arsenal back - then please describe what that is! We have never under Wenger gone out and spent millions. If you remember the likes of TH, Paddy et al all came in at relatively decent prices and were largely unknown. Splashing the cash isn't the answer just look at Leeds - where are all the mercenaries now?
As for Tevez - I thought he was non - existent when they beat us at home. He looks overwieght and is not a Wenger type player. Where would we play him. Don't believe the hype! Arsene knows!
Galasso wrote:Interesting to see what happens with Henry. The best thing he can do for us now is stick one on Chelsea, ManU or Liverpool in the European Cup (but not us, please).
Now that any animosity has died down after the move, wouldn't you just love us to play Barca in the latter stages of the Champions League. Wouldn't it be great to welcome our hero back to the Grove? And wouldn't it be great to stuff them with Cesc scoring the winning goal......
Rad,I think TH was bought for at least £10 million which isn't
peanuts mate considering he'd been having a nightmare in Italy!
As for using Leeds as an example then my answer to that would be
they spent a lot of money in transfers and wages on bad players,
I mean Seth Johnson on 40 grand a week for god's sake,thats just stupidity and you could see even back then that Robbie Fowler was
finnished when they bought him.
When I said I wanted my Arsenal back I just ment to be at least
challenging for the title! To be honest I don't even think we have to go out and spend untold millions to be up there challenging,but I do feel this
policy of buying unkown teenagers my prove too costly in the long run
because you still need proven quality to go alongside these youngsters.Also don't forget for every Viera or Toure there's been a few
Wreah's,Steponov's and Senderos' (sorry had to put him in,think he's pony!!).
I hope Wenger is right in letting Henry go. But it still hurts to see our best players leave the club. Thats what is reality and we have to live with it.
GunnerTino wrote:Also don't forget for every Viera or Toure there's been a few
Wreah's,Steponov's and Senderos' (sorry had to put him in,think he's pony!!).
Woh woh woh there.
Don't ever compare Christopher Wreh with Steptoe and swiss steptoe! If it hadn't have been for Wreh we would not have won the double. He got a brief run in the side and scored a few winners including in the cup semi against Wolves if i remember correctly.
Wreh was never the greatest but his contribution makes him a legend in my book.
