A guest post from shottagunna ( @shotta_gooner )
By now we are all familiar with the recent punditry of Thierry Henry, when, from the comfort of his perch at Sky Sports, he declared that for Arsenal to win the league again “I think they need to buy four players – they need that spine. They need a goalkeeper, they still need a centre back, they still need a holding midfielder…”
A visitor from Mars, scrutinizing the League table, may have cause to wonder if Henry is confused; is he mixing up the red of Arsenal with the free-falling Liverpool. The Gunners have been the best performing club in the top flight since January and in the last 6 games is ranked second only to Everton with 16 points compared to Chelsea’s 14.
In my opinion Henry’s punditry is not only a public declaration of no-confidence in this squad but a virtual flip flop from his opinion two weeks earlier when he was bigging-up Coquelin in particular, famously comparing him to the tv detective Columbo, extolling his ability to sniff out any attack. Henry is no regular TV blowhard, he is an Arsenal legend who is still connected to the club, often working out with the squad at London Colney. Surely he should be aware that he is undermining confidence in players who see him as a mentor and in Wenger, whose approach to squad building is signing talented players whom the lazy pundits have doubts and turning them into world class players, a policy which he personally benefitted.
In my opinion our greatest ever goal-scorer is just another hapless victim of a certain media narrative, echoed in blogs and on twitter until it becomes conventional wisdom with barely a shred of factual evidence. This is exemplified by the repeated nonsense that somehow David Ospina is inferior to all the top goalkeepers in the PL. But as footballrepublik.com observed:
“Comparing Ospina to arguably the other top 2 goalkeepers in the league, David de Gea and Thibaut Courtois, he has the best clean sheet ratio, makes more saves per game, more saves per goal & has conceded the least goals per game.
He also boasts the best win ratio out of the three and has the most successful punches per game. Comparing him to his Polish counterpart (Szczesny), Ospina concedes a goal every 150 mins compared to every 71 mins for Szczesny.”
Those statistics are pretty overwhelming but, no matter how well he does, Ospina’s performances are discounted and subject to thinly disguised skepticism. This is best reflected in a recent headline in a very popular blog which stated “David Ospina’s win ratio makes him the second largest oil producer in the Universe.” Admittedly that was a very funny headline, but certainly a perfect example of being damned by sarcasm, a technique which this particular blogger excels.
All of us with experience of the last 11 years know that at the core of this false narrative concerning Ospina are the following facts; he only cost the club a reported £4 million, he wasn’t signed from a big club and he is not the stereo-typical huge 6ft 6in plus European type goalkeeper. Too Almunia-esque in my opinion.
Hence the usual suspects went into overdrive in the last transfer window demanding Wenger sign Chelsea’s #2, Petr Cech. Ray Parlour, who like Henry is loved by the media for being a famous ex-player (get the pattern) stated in the London Evening Standard. “It is nothing against Ospina but when you look at the games Cech has played in and the trophies he has won, he’d be a great addition for Arsenal. If you are going to challenge for the league, you need a top quality goalkeeper which Cech is.” One very popular tweep who also writes for the Metro went so far as to suggest that “A move to Arsenal would keep Cech in London, a city that has been the home of his evolution into a world class goalkeeper.” Imagine that, Arsenal has a duty to keep him in London.
Look out for more of this guff in the silly season coming up in July, worse if Ospina proves he is only human and by making a big mistake in one of the four upcoming matches. The main thing that keeps us serene in this nonsense is the wise words of our manager who said of our players in a recent interview:
“Every moment is analysed of every event on television. Just after the game the players open the television and hear ‘Why did he move on the right and not on the left?’. That was not the case before. It is the price to pay for the popularity of the sport. We have the good sides and have to take the bad sides as well.”
Positively Arsenal 
I wondered what the DM to George was about ?
And lo and behold you have produced the goods !
LikeLike
As they say Andrew, the eagle has landed. Hope you are not disappointed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said Shotta. Hope a copy gets through to TH. What on earth was he thinking?
LikeLike
excellent post Shotta and 100% right. We all know how parlours mrs took full advantage of his naivity and now were all getting treated to it. He is getting brookingeske in his predictions and quite frankly what does he know. I thought the tv learnt about using the credential of someone once pulling on a shirt as safe bet, but no they keep on making the same mistake. I love hearing from old players about specific points in their time at the club, snipits of information that colour in the pictures in your mind. However once they start slagging present players then quite frankly they can fuckoff whoever they are and however big they once were. Most of them have zero to little manergerial experience and really have no idea what type of player would suit a particular club. If your going to say any club would be better next season with the addition of four world class players then thats just stating the obvious.
it is strange that some of the so called world class players have worse stats than Oli or ospina or le coq or Aaron or Santi when you compare them and remember our lads have had to build form after coming back from injuries.
Theo is right when he says if it hadnt been for the long and lenthy injury list we would have won the league this season and we are the best team in 2015.
So to state that we NEED four players in our first eleven is frankly ridiculas and im sorry Thierry but sound like the ramblings of an idiot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
gf60, that is the problem, he wasnt thinking. hejust said what sky wanted him to say.
if cech can become a worldclass player at chelsea, it means he wasnt when he arrived. and who says ospina cant do the same here at arsenal? if we must get the better of chelsea, we must do better than their reject. something that united has found out in mata.
LikeLike
Thanks, Shotta.
Superbly put.
I read (and please someone, tell me it isn’t true), that G Neville earns £1.2M, and T Henry, £4M. Even if these figures are exaggerated, I find them mind-boggling.
Has Theirry been gambling and lost all his earnings? Has his ex ripped him off Parlour stylee? Is he being blackmailed? I don’t have that impression.
For someone who has declared such love for the Arsenal, I guess it’d take a kings ransom to start talking complete bollox.
Ian Wright has already upset me with his conversion to the dark side. Surely not Henry? Please, NO.
Is this about gravitas to the narrative? Does this mean the smashing of Arsenal’s players, along with the attempted destabilisation of all things Arsenal, inc. Arsène Wenger – will continue unabated? Seems so.
Why Theirry, why?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice one. Well put.
I noticed, whilst reading, that serene is – but for swapping an e for an a – an anagram of Arsene. Coincidence? I think not. Either that or I’m bored on a day off watching snooker.
LikeLike
Rantetta @ 4:18pm Nothing more nefarious than the power of money. Ex players are especially vulnerable as the big weekly checks stop coming in so it is easy to adapt to the new paymaster. We should stop idolizing them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do not require former players to sit next to me on the Sunshine bus. They are after all mercenaries who ply their trade to whoever makes them the most attractive offer. I do the same myself as do, or would, most of us.
What does irritate me about these comments from TH, although I did not see them directly, is his timing.
In the immediate aftermath of a rousing, close game against the soon to be announced PL champions, after piling up result after good result, what possible grounds are there for saying that Arsenal must sign ‘4’ number of players in order to win ?
Presumably if Ozil and Danny had somehow managed to shin in the winner at the end the “4” would be 3 or 2 or 1 or 0. If, through some abominable pact with Lucifer, John Terry had managed to knock in a header and Chelsea had won the three points would the “4” have gone up to 5-6-7-8-9-10-11 new top, top players ??
Think before you speak Thierry, and if you cant think then stay silent until you have thought.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I agree with my mate Shotta,always do.
LikeLike
Shotta,
“We should stop idolising them”. I guess you’re correct, but I wanted to keep memories, such as Thierry returning, scoring and celebrating that goal in the FkCup, for example.
My memories of Wrighty’s celebrations and supposed undying love for Arsenal don’t even come up in my dreams any more. I shiver when I hear the voices of Alan Smith, Lee Dixon, John Hartson, et al.
Yes, you’re right – Stop Idolising Them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
what is it with former Arsenal players that they have to always try and be negative towards Arsenal, why can’t they be like former utd or chelsea or liverpool players who won’t hear a bad word said against their former teams.
LikeLiked by 1 person
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDws_4HWgAAsAaM.jpg:large
LikeLike
Shotta, bring it on!
Please, remember who the agent is? Both the DT and the Guardian, ran trash articles on TH and his punditry. What would Darren Dein tell TH, rip the Arsenal off, after the next game?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Kick it Out, held a conference for Raise your Game at The Emirates, Tuesday, 28th April 2015.
The London Marathon is about taking part, the winning are a separate event for the professionals.
Ivan Gazidis, in his welcoming speech, would be about diversity, in particular football.
Some idiots, are taking one or two sound-bites – out of context.
LikeLike
Nice one Shotta.
@NOTH
Your view makes sense. I am going to consider this the most plausible explanation until further information, given all facts thus far. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Settling down to watch the Foxes fuck up the hen house – an enraged Pearson to choke the Portugese stone dead in the technical area despite referee Mark Clattenburg trying to rescue Jose
#conspiracy
LikeLike
My money is on Wasilewski by a KO in the 8th
LikeLike
NOTH @ 7:16pm. You make a good point. It is very plausible that Agent Dein made Titi aware of the risk to his cushy future as a pundit should the mainstream media continue trashing him for being too non-contoversial. 1st Chicharito and next the favorite target of the self-same yellow press. I am yet to see a pundit lose his job for bashing Arsenal no matter how wrong they have been proven.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Henry can go fuck himself for me now.
I liked this article.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A slip by Azpilcueta and the Fox strikes
1-0
Leicester have been dangerous throughout – half time
LikeLike
The ancient Ivorian takes advantage of a slack start to the second half by the home side 1-1
LikeLike
P.I.M.P. @PoznanInMyPants · 37m 37 minutes ago
City cheating FFP: reduced wage bill by £28m, due to 125 staff being moved onto accounts of parent company ie “City Football Group.”
LikeLike
Adrian Kajumba @AdrianJKajumba · 16m 16 minutes ago
@GeoffArsenal azpilicueta, Cahill, courtois, fabregas, hazard, ivanovic, Oscar, terry, matic all started 26+ PL games + Willian 24, Costa 23
LikeLike
Ars skills v boring-ski Moaniska:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u4M9R-GvTKg
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ben Dinnery @BenDinnery · 6h 6 hours ago
#AFC
Number of injuries has dropped by 28% [from 1st half of the season] resulting in an 18% upturn in average points per game
Correlation
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another hugely fortunate 3 points for the dullest side in the PL – clearly a contract with Beelzebub has been signed
LikeLiked by 1 person
reports that Arsenal have banned Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ mother from the club after she hit Dick Law and other members of staff during a recent under-21s game.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Twitter idiots slagging off arsenal gk’s and defence.
We’ve only conceded 5 more than Chelsea, and this in a season where we’ve had to band aid together any random selection of back 4 players fit & available for the first half of the season. Saying the club should have bought more, for fuck sakes we’d have another TV5 on 100k a week with no fecking prospect of a game, that’s not a realistic prospect, oh and if we got a journeyman squad player? – it would have been ‘he’s just another squid! He ain’t fit to wear the shirt!’.
Nice one, Shotta btw.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have people not remembered that Cech and Casillas were dropped, and rightly so for the non stop clangers they were making in every single game??
Are people that thick that they forget recent events? – it’s only two seasons ago!!!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I see Nigel Pearson is being criticised for something after the Chelsea match…perhaps it was him being upset about Chelsea usual cheating tactics? Referee assistance? Its easy to win the league if you are given all that help – same as Man Utd used to get.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent Shotta, really good thought-provoking article.
The chances of Arsene adding 4 names to the first 11 are likely to be neglible and for reasons familiar to us all. These include the difficulties of assimilation and the challenges involved in sourcing players better than the ones we already have. So whilst funding such purchases is, somewhat ironically, far less of an issue these days, simply going out and spending huge sums is rarely the answer (stand up Spurs and Liverpool).
Henry, of all people, must be aware of this so one can only reasonably conclude he is playing to the Sky gallery with a deliberately controversial turn Stewart Robson would have been proud of.
The death of the pre and post-match build-ups/analysis has become a surprising feature of contemporary media coverage. And just like the summer silly season, awash with false transfer rumour, it’s mostly best left alone.
The simple facts are that the extraordinary improvement in Arsenal’s game post Xmas (and as firmly predicted here on PA in the autumn) will have all of our opponents looking over their shoulders – from the EPL to across Europe. A stable squad and zero international competitions will likely cause havoc in the homes of our opponents; 2016 is likely to be our biggest and most successful year since the Invincibles, in my opinion. The stats, the style and the trends all say as much.
LikeLiked by 5 people
I think there was once a story that didn’t end well. It featured pieces of silver.
LikeLiked by 1 person
i think….
henry wants to see arsenal players dominating chelsea players..its a mental thing mostly
he wants to see the easiness with which terry and cahill dealt with giroud being in reverse order….
he wants to see us toying with them rather than seeing them dealing with us comfortably
then again he fucked off so that messi wins it for him a year after he failed to win it for wenger..for freddie ..for robert ..for us…
LikeLike
Giroud has shown steady improvement since he has been at The Arsenal, and he wouldn’t be the fist player to have done this, nor I suspect, the last. While I think the idea of the explosive goal scorer, the man who turns a match on his head, the championship winning genius has much in common with unicorns I do appreciate the sentiment of those who call for such a player. But I think we already have him in Alexis. He has done some great things this season, and has also had some quieter moments, but will surely get better. If he does, we could have exactly the player that TH says we need.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I see Nigel Pearson told a journalist who asked a stupid question in the post match press conference to stick his head up an ostrich’s arse.
I am gravely offended by his words.
On behalf of the ostrich.
LikeLike
The other BIG ARSENAL story this morning, an exclusive no less according to the increasingly desperate Telegraph, concerns Niall Maitland-Niles mummy, Jule, and her propensity to laying into club staff.
I think, in addition to the 4 top ,top players TH mentioned, Arsene might consider signing a ‘Lady Macbeth’ figure to the club’s backroom staff – dangerous and impossible to stop, to unleash on the opposition, for example put her behind the home dugout at the Bridge.
LikeLike
she is a totenham fan thats why….
LikeLike
Henry, like his predecessor Mr Wright, is a sell out motherfucker.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think arsenal should sign up Pearson just to do AFC press conferences and interviews. He’d be made for the job.
Hack: ” do you think you need four more world class players?”
Pearson: “Did you see the hacking of Sanchez? Every other game? It’s true, if you lose your captain to an uncalled foul for the whole season, for starters, you might need more players. Amazing analysis. Have you ever thought about becoming a football agent? Oh, you already work for one. Righty ho.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Shotta
That was a superb piece my friend!
My concern about Henry’s judgement is that his comments suggest he is not sophisticated enough to consider managing Arsenal in the future…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
finsbury
April 30, 2015 at 11:59 am
is that a true story ?
im in the midst of a couples councelling ..im fixing a marriage between wojo snr and mama nails
LikeLike
fins i have a dilema for you
one of the two HAS to happen…there is no escape
a) swap terry for mertesaker
b) swap barton for wilshere
ill be waiting in the lobby ………. with a knife…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thierry has lost my respect since 18th November 2009.
Probably since he walked-out of Arsenal actually.
LikeLike
Hunter @ 3.19
No dilemma there!
LikeLike
Fins @11:59
BIG LIKE.
+multiple smilies
LikeLike
what henry didnt realise is that chelsea are lucky this season that they didnt lose the service of hazard allthrough. i hope they lose him for 4 months next season or lose him to madrid. lets see who wins the league title. even barca won nothing last season when messi was injured for a few months.
LikeLike
hey thats cheating!!!!
well played
LikeLike
TEAM NEWS: WHO IS FIT FOR THE HULL GAME?
Arsène Wenger has revealed the latest team news ahead of Monday’s game against Hull City:
on the latest news…
Everybody is in good shape, apart from Mathieu Debuchy, who has a little hamstring problem. We don’t know how bad it is. Apart from that everybody should be available [for the Hull game].
on Debuchy…
Monday could be too early for him. He got the injury in training.
on the rest of the squad being fit…
We are at a period of the season where it’s going to be important to have everybody on board and to see everyone fit makes us stronger. We are on a good run, we want to keep it going and the fact that we have plenty of [selection] opportunities is very interesting for me.
Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150430/team-news-who-is-fit-for-the-hull-game-#wTZ4Wc7EAjqj75yZ.99
LikeLike