So it happened, in the end a rather sombre departure of Arsenal's greatest striker...Henry has not left with a bang but with a wimper.
I'm split between writing a piece summarising all his past glories but realise this is probably being replicated many times on other blogs as I write, so I will not dwell in the past and I suggest the current members of the Arsenal board do the same. Instead I would prefer to look at who we could possibly get to fill Henry's rather large boots.
The first chink of light in the otherwise gloomy clouds on the horizon is the growth and development of Robin Van Persie, as a player I think he can now grow into the vacuum left by the departing Henry.
He, as I pointed out earlier, was the top marksman in the premiership in terms of goals per minutes played (it is indeed unfortunate that he did not get a full season to test himself fully). When Henry was once quizzed on who he thought was the most technically gifted player in the Arsenal squad he replied that this was Van Persie by some distance. The only issue is whether at 24 he is ready for the challenge. The other caveat I have is he lacks the the outright speed that Henry had and as such not the complete striker, but with ball at foot he is right up there.
This leads me onto Theo Walcott. Pace he may have to burn but I worry how some fans seem to think he will simply step into the Henry role at such a young age. We would all love this to happen (next season people are welcome to give me some stick here if I'm wrong) but I'll go as far a saying this is simply not going to happen! I see him playing a big role in Arsenal's future as long as he is given the space and freedom to develop in his own time.
So what of outside the current team? There is a clear need now to sign both a left sided winger and now a experienced top level striker, someone who is in fact super-super class... My preference for a winger would be a young quality player - someone we can look to develop with the rest of the youth team, I would prefer a really direct player like
Royston Drenthe or Alessandro Rosina. In terms of a striker, rumour has it we may be looking at Nicolas Anelka. It is not without a certain amount of reservation and irony that Henry's replacement should be his predecessor. I always looked at Anelka and thought what-if? I'm sure he probably looks at himself and thinks the same. Whether he can make a go of it is another question, and food for thought.
Others mooted replacements include: Bendtner (totally unproven), Owen (injury prone and overpriced), Martins (fast but lacks consistency), Torres (way too expensive), and Eto (won't leave the Nou Camp unless there is a major bust up next season - however with Henry sold for 16M perhaps we have a first refusal when Barca sell).
In my opinion, the board should be held responsible for the current predicament, they've played their cards and I think they've now a lot to prove to the fans. The minimum expected now is for them to secure Wenger's future at the club -
even if this involves getting Stan Kroenke's support. With Wenger secured we can look to building the current crop of young talent into the worlds best side... THEY MUST NOT PROCRASTINATE, THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW!
To conclude we should try not to let the last few months blight the memory of Henry's contribution to the club... here's a reminder of the great man.
Ending on a more cheerful note, in other news we are linked with Roma's Alberto Aquilani, a deadball specialist that would make Gareth Bale's admirers drool. He was another player who looked really good in the recent U21 championships....
