Who needs Henry when we’ve got Van Persie and Adebayor 4 January, 2007

It’s great news that Thierry Henry has made a successful return after his long spell out on the sidelines, he scored in his comeback game and will be looking to add many more. The captain says he is feeling the benefits of taking the break, he admits it was a mistake to try and play through the injury at the start of he season and he really should of taken some time out then. Now he’s “fresh” and hopefully he’ll make up on the games he missed out on by scoring lot of goals this season. If Henry wants to keep his Golden Boot his going to have to find a bit of form, he’s not even in the top 10 and Drogba is leading the way with 13 Premiership goals.

In Thierry’s absence we’ve done very well in the goal department, Robin has 12, Gilberto is level with Henry on 8, Ade has 7 and Flamini has come up with 4. When Henry left the team I think it helped Adebayor and Van Persie alot, not only were they pretty much guaranteed a place but they got alot more of the ball: When Titi is in the team every play goes through him. Without Henry they ball was spread evenly and Fabregas, Van Persie, Adebayor, Hleb etc got to do a great deal more.

I was never Ade’s biggest fan but he’s been a huge hit for us this season. Before I hoped he never played but now I truly believe we have a bit of a selection problem. Also Van Persie has been having a great season, I’ve always liked the Dutchman but he’s improved alot this season and has become alot less selfish, which was his main problem last year. Hopefully the return of the world’s best striker doesn’t ruin any of their form but it does mean we’ve now got three excellent strikers if one gets injured or whatever. It’s also a great option to have a class striker on the bench to change things when games aren’t going to plan.

Thierry has praised the duo that replaced him in his absence, they scored 7 goals together in the time Henry was out and the skipper has been telling arsenal.com how proud he is:

“I am really pleased for Manu Adebayor, he was criticised for a lack of goals or a lack of commitment or whatever when he arrived but it always takes time to settle in and what he is doing at the moment is amazing. Robin too. He is playing as a centre forward and is showing he can score goals. If his head is right he can be in the years to come one of the best ever in the Premiership. He is going that way and it would be good for him to finish as our top scorer. That’s why when the penalty was given against Charlton I thought it would be nice for him to score in the game and I gave him the ball. I don’t mind him scoring more than me, goals don’t matter so much for me. If they did I wouldn’t have given him the ball for the penalty.

I have always said I’m not a ‘natural-born killer’ in front of goal. If I have to give a ball I will try to do that. I used to get hammered about that in my first two or three years because people said I wasn’t a ‘killer’ but if you look at my stats they are good.

I don’t think you should compare them [Bergkamp and Van Persie]. Bergkamp was Bergkamp and Van Persie will be Van Persie. Robin is already getting to that level, he is doing it already in the Dutch national team and for Arsenal. I think it’s up to him how far he is going to go. I never compare players like that, Dennis was special and we want Robin to be himself and make his name.”

Some nice words from Thierry there, I’m sure Ade and Robin will appreciate that. It would be weird if Robin finished top scorer for Arsenal, we’re so used to it being Henry it would be a nice change to see Robin get some goals. I think he’s suspended for the FA Cup game, I’ll verify that in the week. Fabregas is suspended though after picking up that silly yellow card in Sheffield. There’s talk that there could be a weak side out but there’s going to have to be if we’ve got all these injuries and suspensions. Henry should start, he targeted this as his comeback game and I still think he will play, he needs the games to get back into the swing of things and pick up some form.

Our third choice right-back Justin Hoyte scored his first Arsenal goal on Tuesday night and he’s told us how he’s not worried about the return of Eboue and Lauren:

“Lauren’s return is good for the team. There are three players that play in that position and it keeps us all on our toes. Eboue’s injured at the moment and I’ve stepped in and I’m playing well but Manu was playing fantastically well when he was playing. As a player you approach it that you’ve got to work hard in training and play well on the pitch, and if you’re doing well, and playing well, you’ll stay in the team. In my youth team days I used to be a striker so I just tried to get the best contact possible and then I checked again just to make sure it went in. You can see from my celebration how much it meant to me and I don’t score often so I thought I might as well have a little dance. I’d like to make as many appearances as I can and as far as winning goes I think the Club can win everything possible. That’s what I believe. I think we go into every game believing we can win it, so why can’t we win all the trophies?”

To be fair, Justin isn’t really going to challenge the others for that first team place just yet but I think in time he’ll have a shot. I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him and it’s nice to have an English player for once.

It is January so I suppose there should be a bit of transfer news. Falkirk boss John Hughes is still waiting to find out what’s happening with Anthony Stokes. Gianluigi Buffon‘s agent has said he will be allowed to leave Serie B if he wants to. Birmingham are apparently close to signing Seb Larsson permanently. And finally, Marseille’s Franck Ribery says he’ll need alot of persuading to leave France.

Thanks for reading.