TH14 Back to Arsenal?

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will decide whether to re-sign Thierry Henry by end of next week

Arsenal will lose Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho next month to the Africa Cup of Nations, with Wenger mindful both of his limited options in attack and the danger of placing an excessive burden on Robin van Persie.

Henry has been on holiday this week but trained with Arsenal earlier in the month and was sufficiently impressive for Wenger to regard it as a realistic option.

The Major League Soccer season does not begin again until March 10 but Henry is due back for pre-season training at the New York Red Bulls on Jan 16.

Wenger laughed on Friday as he denied, unconvincingly, having directly discussed the situation with Henry. The concern for Henry, 34, would be whether there is anything to be gained personally from going back and potentially altering his legacy.

With Arsenal not playing Wolverhampton Wanderers until Dec 27 because of the Tube drivers’ strike on Boxing Day, Wenger will give the situation some serious thought over the next 48 hours.
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“Jan 1 is the vital date for us. We have seven days to make decisions on players,” he said.

The other big issue for Wenger is whether he brings in an emergency loan as cover for Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos at left-back.

It was confirmed on Friday that Gibbs has had surgery on his groin and will be out for another month, while Santos is sidelined until March with an ankle ligament injury.

Both right-backs, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson, are also unavailable, though the Frenchman is recovering well from the broken leg sustained in October. He trained away from the first team on Friday and Wenger said: “The end of January is a reasonable target.”

The setback to Gibbs is a particularly big blow in the context of all his recent injuries. Wenger, though, predicted that they the ordeal would make him mentally stronger and predicted that the 21 year-old could still force his way into Fabio Capello’s England squad for Euro 2012.

“He is incredibly unlucky but he still can play in the Euros,” said Wenger. “I feel sometimes for players between 19 and 20, if they get injured, then their body adjusts a little to the requested physical level.

"Then they can have a long period without injury. It builds them up as well mentally.”

An obvious loan option now is Wayne Bridge, who is yet to play in the Premier League this season for Manchester City, although his wages may be prohibitive.

The more positive news for Arsenal is that Sagna has begun running following his broken leg and should be available in around a month while Johan Djourou has what Wenger calls “a little chance” of returning against Wolves.

Sepi wrote:Fowler is rumoured back too

fatman123 wrote:

Sepi wrote:Fowler is rumoured back too

he was terrible in the a-league, why would 'pool want him back?

Sepi wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

Sepi wrote:Fowler is rumoured back too

he was terrible in the a-league, why would 'pool want him back?

He is still a quality finisher Ripping the Thai league now

Sepi wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

Sepi wrote:Fowler is rumoured back too

he was terrible in the a-league, why would 'pool want him back?

He is still a quality finisher Ripping the Thai league now

fatman123 wrote:

Sepi wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

Sepi wrote:Fowler is rumoured back too

he was terrible in the a-league, why would 'pool want him back?

He is still a quality finisher Ripping the Thai league now

hey, i can run rings around my cousins when we're playing in the backyard, any chance pool will offer me a contract?

Dutti wrote:Seems like only yesterday Arsenal fans were excited about Chamakh....

lenear1030 wrote:

Dutti wrote:Seems like only yesterday Arsenal fans were excited about Chamakh....

Seems like only yesterday Chamakh had confidence....


(actually it's been a full calendar year since he's had any form, but I made my point)

Aensensen wrote:Well TH back would be crazy and stupid. His agent MUST scream at him during the next few days trying to get his head to accept the fact that returning to arsenal would be idiotic.

OFC he's a good finisher, we're talking about Henry, but he left, and that' the end of his Arsenal story. Legacy made.

arabprince wrote:

Aensensen wrote:Well TH back would be crazy and stupid. His agent MUST scream at him during the next few days trying to get his head to accept the fact that returning to arsenal would be idiotic.

OFC he's a good finisher, we're talking about Henry, but he left, and that' the end of his Arsenal story. Legacy made.

QFT

Nothing worse than a legend getting back into it. They just tarnish their image, they can never emulate their godlyness.

kick mars wrote:Stupid move, he will most likely fail and the fans will lose respect for him and forget how great he was.

kick mars wrote:If anyone watches F1, what arsenal want is to do what Michael Schuemacher (sp?) did, look how that turedn out.

Stupid move, he will most likely fail and the fans will lose respect for him and forget how great he was.