Despite vocal reservations of Arsenal’s chances for a first Premier League title since 2003/04, the Gunners’ all-time top scorer Thierry Henry now thinks the north London side can indeed go all the way.
The Frenchman spoke about the way Arsenal have turned a corner, admitting they have begun to perform week in, week out.
At the beginning of the season, it wasn’t looking like the start they wanted to have…but suddenly they’ve started to get it together and are performing. The performances against Manchester United and Bayern Munich were great, then they showed they can do it on a daily basis against Everton. It wasn’t flamboyant Arsenal, but they still managed to win the game. Can they win the league? I think they can.
Henry said that while the Gunners have an excellent squad – not buying in the summer could still affect them.
[That’s why] Everyone was calling for Arsene Wenger to go and buy a holding midfielder. He didn’t and Mikel Arteta is still there. [But]Is he the same as Coquelin? Not any more, I don’t think. Maybe they can get someone in January to back up Coquelin [if he gets injured].
Henry spoke of the clubs’ current centre-forward situation – while touching upon his comments in the summer on buying a “world-class striker”.
I was saying that maybe they needed a striker in the summer to help out, but Theo Walcott has emerged as that striker. When Walcott is playing, he’s doing his job. When Giroud is playing, he’s doing his job. What it does is bring a healthy competition.
The French hitman certainly knows a thing or two about “healthy competition” and admitted it has a revitalising effect on a player’s performance.
When I used to play for Arsenal, I knew I had only 60 minutes to perform because there was Dennis Bergkamp, Nwankwo Kanu or Sylvain Wiltord on the bench. I knew I had to perform.
He also highlighted the importance of having not only a manager’s vote of confidence but also minutes under a striker’s belt.
The difference with Theo Walcott this season is that he’s having a run of games. In the past, Arsene would have played him as a No 9, then put him back on the wing, then on the bench. But he’s having a little run now. Giroud is doing the same. You need to have a run of games in order to perform. It’s OK having the confidence of the manager, who tells you [that you] can do it and backs you up in the press, but at some point the players have to go out there and perform and that’s what they’re doing. It’s important that Walcott goes out there with the confidence of the manager, but he also needs to go out there and play hard. You can be funny, smile and be a nice guy, but if you don’t perform you’ll be on the bench or leave the football club.
Henry then had words of comfort for Arsenal’s combative midfield talisman, Jack Wilshere.
I actually feel sorry for Jack. He loves Arsenal. He’s an Arsenal fan. He’s never had a whole season to really see what he can do. We all know he has great potential. Arsenal have a great guy there that could be Arsenal captain for a very long time. Can he be injury free? That’s the only thing.
