Thierry Henry is in news for what he said at the Overlap podcast hosted primarily by Gary Neville. Before we talk about it, here’s an excerpts from it that has riled some of the Arsenal fans.
The last three years, we have been in a situation where should at least bring a cup or be in a final. Man Utd played five finals in their last five years – the United that everyone laughs at. In the last three years of building, Arsenal didn’t reach a final. This year we didn’t compete with Liverpool. I don’t know what people think, but we didn’t compete, not once. I’m not saying this season was a disappointment, but it’s normal that people are raising questions now about what the team is doing.
source : TH14 via the Overlap Stick to Football podcast
Well, some of the fans are calling him naïve for it. Some of us feel that Henry said so to please the hosts, got carried away with the propaganda Neville and Carragher spits and that he shouldn’t have questioned the manager of the Arsenal football club who took us back into the Champions League, made it to the semi finals this season, competed for the title thrice in a row and is doing his best to get us to where we belong.
Let me start by pointing out a very big difference between you, me and Thierry Henry. He is a legend, has played for the shirt and won titles for us, arguably the best player in Premier League history, was part of the team under the best manager of that time, has got a fucking statue outside the fucking stadium and is as big a supporter of the club as rest of us. He has lived it, given his blood and sweat, played alongside the greats – Vieira, DB10, Ljungberg and there could not a better fan to speak about the progress of the club.
Now, everyone’s entitled to an opinion and everyone else is entitled to agree or disagree to it. But calling it a blasphemy because a legend of the club feels we could have done better only means that you have got sub-standard expectation in an elite, competitive sport. If you are happy with 2nd place finishes and Champions League semi-finals, go fuck yourself, please.
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Ok, lets put the emotions aside and break up what he said.
He told in his discussions that he understood the first 3 years because any manager that comes in, will need at least 4-5 transfer windows to bring in players to suit his style of play. Sounds good, we won a FA cup as well with a team that we had to de-assemble and let go. We spent heavily and Mikel go the players he needed to start delivering on the promises he made. We reached second in 2022-23 and everyone felt we are couple of signings away from winning the league. Man City were at their best and challenging them for the title was good enough at that point. Last season, we reached second again and it was blamed on the lack of depth on bench and the missing piece of a CF. Mikel did fuck all to address both the cases, we got Havertz and Merino playing up front, neither of them are a full fledged #9. With Gabriel’s injury in defence, we had to switch to Kiwior whom we were trying to sell in the summer window and failed.
So, we spent money but addressed none of the problems. We brought in a LB while our academy product in MLS played 21 of those 38 games this season, and could have played more if we have picked him up early in the season. We spent 65m on Havertz to fix the attacking midfielder problem, shifted him to the striker position and spent some more money to get Merino when it’s Declan Rice playing most of the time in that position. What in the actual fuck did we spent money on then?
Next, Legend wants us to compete and at least reach finals. Finals are nervy, anything can happen and it’s all about who gave their most on that day. It can go either way, so the legend says we should at least make it to the finals which we didn’t do. Anything wrong with that statement? None at all. He sees us finishing 2nd as not competing with Liverpool because we didn’t do. We competed with Man City last season, last 5 games decided who would lift the trophy, but this year, Liverpool were way beyond our reach in what, 30th week of the season? Again, you can call it a great job at competing if you are as mid as a Spud.
He is not saying season is a disappointment – because we still finished 2nd and we made it to Champions League semi-finals. But how many of you believe we could have done better? Every fucking one. We could have at least tried to bridge the gap by getting Watkins on cheap in January, or by trying Martinelli in the middle early on. We didn’t address it because we thought we will do it next year now. We were in the Champions League and either Mikel or the club prioritised the revenue from there.
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With recent revenue sharing stats from Premier League, we saw that finishing 2nd and 6th have about 10m revenue generating differences. That’s not a lot when you buy a player in 35m (Fabio Vieira) and not use him for exactly the position he was brought in. Champions League money increases a lot if you make it to the next round, and we were making that money before we could spend it. Fine if didn’t have some to waste it on Havertz who won’t have a place in the team once we get Sesko or Gyokeres.
I don’t see a tiny bit of wrongs in what Thierry Henry said. It doesn’t matter if he was amongst Gary Neville or Caragher while he was saying that, for all I care is, he is asking that we should have done better, and we should do better. We are not Tottenham for fuck sake.
Right, rant over. If Henry has same managerial aspirations to lead Arsenal at some point and he is spitting venom against Mikel to get him fired, I don’t give a damn because what he said was true. What he said is what we have been saying at London Is Red, and at this stage, after spending 800m and managing the club for 6+ years, if Mikel can’t get us a trophy, it’s perfectly fine to question his method, spendings and everything around him. It’s not entitlement, it’s calling the bullshit and setting a higher standard than finishing 2nd.
See you in the comments.
at least at Tottenham a manager can expect a quick death. Here it is a slow long winded process that gradually gathers pace after several years and when it is too late.
Would it really surprise anyone if we didn’t sign a single day one starter up top…this organization is so ass-backwards
it appears as if Sane is off to Turkey, (whew) even though MA supposedly asked him to wait before finalizing anything…why the fuck would we pay his astronomical salary demands at this juncture in his career…clearly he understands who he is now or why else would he even be thinking about going to a 3rd rate League…if we were to sign him it could easily become a Willian 2.0 scenario, which speaks to the fact that our little project manager never fucking ever learns from his mistakes…likely because MA’s slurpy limp dick followers never hold him accountable for his action
what’s with our nickel and dime bullshit when it comes to signing reinforcements up top…why wasn’t that the case when we paid well over the number for our juiced up German giraffe??? fuck me, why did that take a fraction of the time of any previous or subsequent deal, especially considering the numbers involved…that tells you just how one-sided that transaction really was…what a fucking joke…I still think that deal will be MA’s undoing, as it’s clearly impacting our ability to do the right thing when it comes to the AM and Striker positions…on the one hand, I should be pleased about that possibility, but I don’t want us, the fans, or his teammates, to have to suffer until just such a time as MA’s shown the door
btw it looks like we’re going after Guehi…what the fucking fuck!!! that’s probably why it’s so difficult to get shit done, as our squirrely fraud of manager probably falls in like with different players every 6 hours…rant over!
Thomas Frank has manifested a seriously masochistic streak by leaving Brentford for the Spuds. I wonder if money had something/everything to do with it? He’s going to love working for Levy.
His appointment is not exactly leaving this Gooner quaking in his boots. Gone by Christmas.
Let’s face it MA’s misguided adoration for Havertz is what’s holding up our Striker plans, as I don’t think he values either Sesko or VG as much as he does Kai…if that’s the case, why the fuck are we even going after them…if he doesn’t believe that Sesko or Viktor have a higher up-side than Havertz, why even waste the club’s time and money…personally, the only way anyone could rate Havertz so highly is if you have no interest whatsoever in playing an attractive brand of football or winning major trophies, which could easily be the case
in recent days, the club-backed “press” are spending a lot of time waxing lyrically about Havertz, going on and on about his body transformation, highlighting post-Nations Cup sour grapes blather in the German Press, following their 4th place finish, and they’ve even posted some market valuation nonsense by some analytics halfwits who actually valued Kai as the 11th most valuable player on the planet…if I ran that latter operation that would be grounds for dismissal for everyone who signed off on that fucking list
meanwhile over on transfermarkt, his valuation has never reached his 2018-19 levels and his MV still sits just below the price we paid for him…fuck me, if any of this nonsense were true why has there never been a single rumour about another club sniffing around…in fact, I dare MA to put him on the open market and see what offers arrive…MA would likely suggest he would never do such a thing because he’s so invaluable, whereas I would suggest he wouldn’t do it because it would be fucking embarassing for everyone involved
regardless, it seems that no matter whom we hire we’re still a messy sloth-like bitch when it comes to transfers
TRVL
It sounds like they could be preparing for a Wengo-Cech type transfer window. He and the Italian fruit bat 🦇 will be out of their arses if so, quicker than Frank at Spurs
https://youtube.com/shorts/6h87rjPb5Co?si=uLc-ZzSx5GWCptRW
Berta faced with four choices ….
Carry on nibbling this woman’s finger
Sesko
Gyokeres
Accept a bunch of bananas from Kai Havertz
Which option will he go for?
The transfer window closes on September 1st. Will El B have made his mind up by then or will there be a trolly dash on the 31st August. In the meantime Berta will be trying to convince potential signings that 2nd is a good place to be. Meanwhile the scousers are splashing the cash they have in reserve as they didnt use it last year and still comfortably beat us.
(1) just so that things don’t get twisted, I wasn’t suggesting that Havertz is some sort of talentless donkey, he simply didn’t fit the brief at the time of his purchase and now he’s a massive stumbling block from both a tactical and recruitment standpoint
(2) the main reason why I despise the whole injury excuse narrative being propagated by MA and his minions is that it gives the wrong impression that what we need now is better depth and not an upgraded starting 11…only a fucking idiot makes reactionary moves in the summer, as that’s a January window gig…so what happens if we bring in these expensive depth pieces then we go relatively injury-free and MA continues to struggle with his rotational practices, especially knowing that his preferred starting 11 isn’t good enough
(3) Pool is on a spending spree, even though they won the title, whereas we appear to be on Plan C when it comes to our recruitment options up top…the papers are suggesting that Pool are doing what champions do, buy when they’re in a position of strength…not to mention, they’re highlighting the importance of Slot’s role in the capturing of Wirtz, who most felt was a shoo-in to go to Munich less than a month ago
(4) if we end up signing a new DM, while still retaining Partey, a Keeper and another defender before bringing in a single starting prospect up top, we’re already out of the title race for next season…not to mention that all of those wunderkind players, who were supposedly heading our way so as to replace all the academy pieces MA chased out of town, are now signing deals with other PL sides
we’re a fucking joke…for all those Kool-Aid blogfucks who keep talking about the brilliance of our 3 second place finishes and deeper CL runs, can you explain to me how that doesn’t seem to carry any weight in the market…could it be that your manager of choice has the combined appeal of a liver dinner and a skunk’s asshole? asking for a friend
Kool-aid blogfucks
Liver dinner
Skunk’s asshole
Vieira… you’re on a roll. Some typically beautiful and graphic imagery. I one had to eat rare/raw liver in a tent in Iraq with a Kurdish bigwig…at 7 in the morning and at about 40 degrees🌡️ and rising. I think I even got some blood on my suit while eating it
Because I’m bored and utterly depressed by the shit shower going on at Arsenal I’m flicking round on TV and the Godfather part 3 is on Sky.
A question – The Godfather parts 1 and 2 are phenomenal films I personally think they’re the same film with an intermission! The Godfather 3 gets panned – now its no where near the level of the first 2 but if it had been unconnected and was a stand alone film would it get better reviews?
Kroenke
Did you have a nice Chianti with it?
Hi Marc
No booze anywhere in N Iraq. I just about kept that liver down but my fucking head was spinning by lunchtime (when the temperature had risen to just over 50!).
Here’s my tuppence worth on the Godfather. Same story, same director, but three entirely different films charting the Corleone family’s growing maturity. Number 2 is my favourite. By the time number 3 comes along, they’re spending time with big business and moving (literally) in different circles. That bit where Michael is going up that massive spiral staircase in the Vatican is very poignant. So three is lower on tension and explosive violence which is why I think it disappoints. It’s much more about growing and consolidating power in my view.
I guess like me you’re a serious fan of the Sopranos. Have you seen ‘the many saints of Newark’ with Gandolfini’s son playing a young Tony?
County start their pre season tomorrow, ie before the summer solstice. Fucking bonkers.
Not even any fava beans. Ironically, I had shocking constipation 💩💩💩 when I finally got back to London…
Kroenke
I’ve never managed to do the Many Saints of Newark but I’m a massive fan of the Sopranos.
One of the very best TV shows ever written – it changed the concept of just how good television could be.
Your take on the Godfather 3 is interesting – as you say the story evolves it couldn’t be a repeat / remake of either of the first 2. I think one of the issues with films in more modern times is the way the media reviews / builds them up. Road to Perdition was so built up that by the time I saw it it came across as a disappointment – I watch it now and its a really good film.
If you’re a Coppola fan have you ever managed the Apocalypse Now Redux version?
KP—just trying to do my part…game recognizes game, in the weirdest possible way
Sopranos—no tv series did it better
Good Fellas–my personal favourite
Godfather 1-3—all epic, but shouldn’t be binge watched…you need to let them breath
Apocalypse Now—another Mount Rushmore movie, along with Fellas, Godfather 2 and Requiem for a Dream…the redux add-ons just made it all the sweeter
btw it’s a hard fucking pass for me when it comes to the whole Iraqi tent liver gig…I would have difficulty finagling that particular aspect of diplomatic service
Marc
I think you’d like the Many Saints of Newark. It adds some interesting touches to the entire Sopranos legend which as you both say is THE best TV series ever made. Breaking Bad, Better call Saul and The Wire also contenders.
And coming back to Coppola, who doesn’t love apocalypse now and its various versions. A beautiful film.
Pissing down with rain in west Wales (surprise, surprise). Not too sure our cricket will be on. I’m the geriatric 12th man today in an local derby which if we win could put us in the top 4.
Very Arsenal-like!
Oh, and I think that film-wise, Casino deserves a mention.
KP—Casino would have received far greater accolades if it weren’t for the fact that it followed Good Fellas, almost as if it were a sequel
not to sound too presumptuous, but here’s what MA should do to right the wrongs of the past couple of seasons:
(1) stop all this Kepa/Keeper nonsense…if we can’t find a veteran Keeper on a fraction of the wages, who can both play out from the back and isn’t under contract to Chelsea, the whole scouting division should be sacked…based on everything we’ve seen thus far from MA, the backup will never see the fucking pitch anyways…I can’t imagine MA will change his spots, especially with the premium being placed on silverware…somehow he might actually be worse in that regards
(2) keep Kiwior, then use Cala as the LCB cover piece…by doing this we would have 5 potential CB options, including White, and some interesting tactical flexibility…I can’t believe I’m saying this, but considering that Tierney is gone and Tomi should be sold asap, I would get another LB…this player must have the ability to get forward, especially if Zubi’s coming in, as I think he’ll be deployed out left, much like when Xhaka played that deep-lying pivot role…I wouldn’t break the bank, as I think Skelly will see the bullk of the minutes, so maybe Jesus Vazquez (Valencia), Jarrel Hato(Ajax) or Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), who I believe Pool are presently courting
(3) if Zubi’s coming, I wouldn’t re-up Partey, unless it was a 1 year deal with a club option and he was giving us a hometown discount…I would rather that we gave Bowman some minutes and then deployed Ethan along side Ode, with Rice sitting deeper, to show the opposition some different looks…this whole bully-ball gig with the likes of Rice, Merino and even Havertz in the 8, should we actually sign a REAL striker, won’t get it done against craftier sides with pacier midfielders
(4) up front is the key to unlocking our potential—we simply must get a Striker with pace, who can clinically finish—only Isak, Osimhen and maybe Sesko fit that brief(in that order)…Havertz should only be a cover piece…then we should sell Tross and replace him with a readymade forward option, like Nico, Leao or Rodrygo…Marts could be a valuable depth piece in multiple positions across the frontline…I would likewise purchase another right side forward, so that we don’t run Saka into the ground again…this player should provide something a little different than Saka, so maybe a pacier winger with the ability to get to the endline then provide crosses into the box with his right foot…this would allow Timber to tuck inside a bit more, which is something he excels at
now that would be a brilliant window…pie in the sky wet dream considering the manner in which we conduct our business…Cheers
one has to only read what Wirtz said regarding his opting for Slot/Pool, for vastly less wages than he could have demanded I might add, to understand why we’ll have a difficult time competing for titles so long as MA’s in charge