How did Arsene Wenger’s signings fare this season – Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry – New York Red Bulls (two-month loan)

In December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue outside the Emirates Stadium to honour club legend Thierry Henry. This was done as part of the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations. Henry is a frequent visitor to the Emirates during the winter months, as the MLS is having it’s off-season, which gives Thierry time to watch his beloved Arsenal.

Henry was back training with the club as he needed to stay fit whilst in London. Arsene Wenger was asked whether there was any possibility that Henry could be signed back in January and the Frenchman said it was possible. This raised excitement amongst the Arsenal faithful that their king was coming back home. By the end of 2011, Wenger had confirmed his return and stated that the deal was likely to happen.

On January 6th 2012, after negotiations with the New York Red Bulls and Major League Soccer, Henry returned home to Arsenal on a two-month loan. The deal gave the Gunners cover up front for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who would be off to the African Cup of Nations later that month.

Henry was available for the club’s next match. That game was at home to Leeds in the FA Cup 3rd Round. With just over 20 minutes left in the game and the scores level at 0-0, the script was written for Henry to come and write a new chapter in his Arsenal career. Henry replaced Chamakh with 22 minutes left. 10 minutes later, the Emirates erupted. Henry rolled back the years, collecting a pass from Alex Song and finishing in such a well… Thierry Henry-esque way. The goal the home fans wanted, the goal Henry wanted. Such a perfectly written script. Everyone joined in the celebrations, even Wojciech Szczesny!. A dream return.

Henry thought he’d scored another goal a few weeks later, when he ‘scored’ the final goal in a 7-1 drubbing of Blackburn at the Emirates. However, a few months later, the goal was taken away from him and credited as an own goal by Scott Dann. I’m pretty sure that Dann would have been happy enough for Henry to claim it!.

Henry’s final goal of his loan spell was a crucial one. Arsenal were away to Sunderland and the scores were level at 1-1 in the last minute. Henry connected with Andrei Arshavin’s cross and stole all three points for Arsenal right at the end. It was his final action in the Premier League. How fitting that the Frenchman would score. He  increased his goalscoring record at the club to 228 goals during his loan spell. Arsenal’s record goalscorer went back to New York the following week to prepare for the Red Bulls’ new MLS campaign. He went away thinking that he had that extra goal against Blackburn to his name, which would have put him on 229, but I don’t think anyone will be catching him. Although if somebody does, I won’t mind, as it will surely mean success for the club in the future!.

I was on a flight to Chicago when the Sunderland game was taking place. When I got off the plane and through customs at O’Hare, I found out the Arsenal score that day. I was surprised we got the 2-1 win as it was, but hearing Henry got the winner… that was something special!.

I loved this deal by Wenger and Henry will ALWAYS be welcome back at Arsenal Football Club, no matter how old he is. I hope to see him come back in a coaching role one day, or even become a future Arsenal manager. He truly loves the club and knows what it means to be a Gooner, unlike the greedy generation of players we have to put up with at our club now. Whatever happened to your Adams’, your Bergkamp’s and your Henry’s?. Yes, Henry left Arsenal when he was a captain too, but at that point he needed to win the Champions League, something unlikely with such a young squad. If he truly felt he could have done it at Arsenal, he’d have never left, except for maybe the last couple years of his career in New York. If Henry comes back next year, I will be very happy!. Absolute legend at the club!.

Incidentally, I would like to add a Twitter story to this. The night we beat Leeds in the FA Cup and Henry scored the winner, a Sp*rs fan on Twitter said “Bless the Gooners, look at them all. This is as good as it gets for them nowadays, beating a Championship side 1-0 at home in the cup thanks to an oldie helping them out!” or something along those lines. This is a fine example of Sp*rs fans talking shite. Firstly, it was a special moment because Henry is a legend and it meant a lot to the fans to see him score another goal. Let’s not forget, there were a lot of kids in the ground that day that were too young to remember Henry at his best. I’m lucky enough to have been old enough when he was around to appreciate the quality of him as a player and the rest of that Invincibles team. Secondly, he was probably looking at the table and being nice and smug at the time, when Sp*rs were about 10 points clear of us. He just had to look at it again in May to realise what a fool he was. Thirdly, it certainly wasn’t “as good as it gets for Gooners” seeing as we have won the title undefeated, won it 13 times and many other trophies. Not to mention the fact it was done twice at the Lane and once at Old Trafford and Anfield. Finally, it was extremely hypocritical, seeing as they have bought back players like Sheringham and Klinsmann to rescue them from bad situations as well as other players they have signed back like Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch. So it was just another fine example of the idiocy that we have to put up with living so close to that shower of sh*t up the road.