Arsenal Legend Thierry Henry Losing Credibility

Thierry Henry is immortalized in Arsenal lore. He was the greatest striker we’ve ever seen and he could hold his own in a contest for the greatest overall player we’ve ever seen.

More from Arsenal News

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

But the Arsenal man has been on a bit of a soapbox recently, and not too much of it is making sense.

First of all, Thierry Henry has made no mention of the progress Arsenal have made this year. Apparently second place means absolutely nothing and the Gunners are still in the same old stock as they’re always in.

Aside from Arsenal’s overall situation, however, Thierry Henry has had an absolute bone to pick with Olivier Giroud. First, he said that Olivier Giroud wasn’t good enough to take Arsenal to the top. He made the claim that Arsenal needed to buy four world class players in order to compete and Olivier Giroud had to be replaced.

After facing the backlash of Arsenal fans and even Arsene Wenger, who said ” the comment on Giroud was a bit more wrong” (via the Mirror), Henry essentially recanted his statement. He then subtly changed his “Giroud is not good enough” criticism to “Giroud is good enough, Arsenal just need more,” which is a reasonable request if he hadn’t completely lost his credibility with claiming that Olivier Giroud wasn’t enough.

Aside from Olivier Giroud, Thierry Henry is sounding like the prototypical Arsenal fan from not so long ago: “sign half of a new squad, just like all the other big teams!” Henry told SkySports that Arsenal need another four players before they can legitimately compete. I don’t know what Arsenal squad Thierry Henry has been watching, but Arsenal don’t need four players. I’ll agree with him that we could use a secondary striker, but if Arsene Wenger intends to put Theo Walcott in that spot, then we no longer need one.

As far as a goal keeper, again, what has Thierry Henry been watching? We have the reigning gold gloves winner and the best saves-per-goal ratio goalie in the world, both competing for the starting spot. At the holding midfield position, Francis Coquelin is in complete domination and next to him we have Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.

In the center back department, we could always use more, but we don’t need it like we have in the past. With Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Calum Chambers, Gabriel Paulista and Nacho Monreal all capable of putting in solid center back play, we could really do without.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

Thierry Henry has really got me wondering about his credibility as a pundit. The wishy-washy comments about Olivier Giroud coupled with his misjudgment as far as Arsenal’s needs have me scratching my chin and questioning whether he really means these things or if he’s just trying to go over the top a bit for entertainment sake. No doubt Henry knows a bit about football, and he knows much more than me, but I don’t understand where this rant about changing Arsenal’s lifelong policy comes into it.

Arsenal should sign some depth, but to say we need four players to compete is to completely ignore our 2015 form, something that Thierry Henry blatantly appears to be doing.

Next: Updated look at Arsenal's top 10 Prospects?