Lord of the Highbury : The return of the King

Arsenal Goal Machine – Thierry Henry: 226 Goals from 369 Games. To be continued..

Well, you must be quite aware of the saying – ‘no player is bigger than the club itself’. And mind you, I am always a firm believer of it. But when I see Thierry Henry, I just cannot seem to fathom myself. Henry and Arsenal go hand to hand. Whenever you think of Thierry Henry, that image of him in a red and white jersey, tearing down the left side and then slowly putting the ball past the goalie, always appears in your mind. It would take forever for the ball to hit the net, but once the ball fizzes pass the goalie, you’ld just know that it would settle right at the bottom or top corner. That was Theirry Henry for you. That sudden burst of pace, that dribbling at such high speed, that monster-like strength to hold the defenders off – were all the attributes that highlighted this goal machine. The King of Highbury, Premier League’s greatest goal scorer and most importantly a player, whose name is forever engraved in the hearts of every gooner.

His last interview at www.arsenal.com was a recipe for heartbreak for all gooners around the world. A most emotional interview that concluded with these magical sentence :”Once a gooner, always a gooner.” Well, fair play to him when he got that elusive Champions League medal with that scabby lot in Spain. Yet, you could just see that Arsenal was in his heart, when he dedicated the win to all Arsenal fans. By this time, he has past his prime. And a move to the America was on the cards.

A tribute to a legend

The love affair between Arsenal and Henry got reignited again, when Henry started training with the Arsenal boys to remain fit during the MLS off season break. Coincidentally, it was the same time that the club decided to erect a staute of him along with two other Arsenal legends – Chapman and Adams. It was an emotional moment for the King as he broke down during his speech, citing his admiration and gratitude for the club that he truly loves. And what else, a month later, like a fairytale, he’s back playing for us again. The King is back!

So, where does it take us? Is it an extremely short-term replacement of the departing Chamakh, with another striker (Podolski, anyone?) waiting to join us this month or is Henry just a direct replacement of Chamakh for these two months? Frankly, I don’t know. And my gut feeling is that, it’s the latter. Being a gunner, it’s useless to raise your hopes up for an established International to join us. Is Henry’s signing a step backward? Maybe. Is his presence going to affect the positive spirit inside the dressing room? Don’t know. Is his signing means a deadlock to any move for other strikers? Can be. Isn’t his age a hindrance to play in the fast-paced BPL again? Of course.

So, where’s the bright side? Well, besides the fact we’ll loads of pictures of Arsenal players with the king, on twitter with ‘DEEEENCH’ captions; there is one thing that overrides all negativity. He is THIERRY HENRY. He is the King himself. And while, I may never get to hear Martin Tyler scream, ‘HENRYYYYYYY, Goal!” this time around, but the feeling of Henry, back in an Arsenal shirt should overawe every gooner. Come on!