source
Henry's lost his va va voom
BEN LYTTLETON
IF JANUARY was the month that ended Arsenal’s hopes of overtaking Chelsea at the top of the Premiership, February is their chance for some redemption. The month starts on Tuesday with the visit of Manchester United to Highbury, and ends with the trip to Munich to face Bayern in the Champions League.
There were glimpses in last Sunday’s win over Newcastle that Arsenal are coming back into form: the passing was slick and the defence less jittery than in the draw to Manchester City or the defeat at Bolton. But the Newcastle game did not banish all concerns: up front, Thierry Henry missed a one-on-one chance against Shay Given and then miscontrolled a Jose Reyes cross six yards from goal. Both were snap chances that we are used to seeing Henry snaffle in a second. Any other striker could miss the odd chance and it would be forgotten. Henry, though, has different standards from other strikers. He has now not scored for five league games, his longest Premiership scoring drought of the season and his worst run since November 2003.
Tuesday would be the perfect time to end the famine.
"One thing is for sure: out there on the field, I have never hidden and I will never hide," Henry warned. "Football is not just about the good times: to be able to appreciate the good moments, you also need to pass through the more difficult periods without running away."
Henry was not as guilty as his team-mates of under-performing after United ended Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten run last October. He scored seven goals in his next seven games as Arsenal stuttered to draws against Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Brom. Compare that to Chelsea’s response when they lost their first game of the season, at Manchester City: they won their next eight games.
Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford - and the manner of the defeat - was clearly more emotive than that but their reaction to it did them no favours. Against the backdrop of the ‘Pizzagate’ scandal, Arsenal complained that referee Mike Riley made bad decisions and moaned that United had kicked them off the park. Both gripes were true, but the longer Arsenal harped back to it, the more their form became affected. Arsenal had not only forgotten how to lose but, more importantly, how to lose well.
The dilemma for coach Arsene Wenger now, is to avoid a repeat of last season, when Henry was not fully fit for the two biggest games of the campaign, the FA Cup semi-final against United followed by the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Arsenal lost both. But Henry does not want a rest. "From time to time, having a little break would no doubt allow me to come back a bit fresher, but if the coach asks me tomorrow to sit out a game so I can rest, I’ll tell him no. That’s the way I am. For me, every game is important."
Chelsea could be the biggest beneficiaries after Tuesday. If they win at Blackburn on Wednesday and the two chasing teams have drawn, they will move 12 points clear of Arsenal, and 11 points ahead of United with 13 games left. That lead may allow coach Jose Mourinho to rest key players like Arjen Robben before crucial Champions League games. It is a luxury Wenger and Ferguson, who are realistically battling to avoid a third-place Premiership finish (and therefore a place in the Champions League qualifying round), will not be able to afford.
Wenger needs Henry to rediscover his form soon, and if not on Tuesday, then certainly before the Bayern game three weeks later. No-one at Arsenal would ever concede that the title race is over, but Henry - like Robert Pires before him - has made it clear where his priorities lie. "The most important thing of all is success in the Champions League," he told France Football magazine.
"Let’s be clear about it, Arsenal have never really shown much in Europe. It would be great to win it with Arsenal. That would represent a real victory in my eyes, because it would have been easy for me to win it with Real Madrid or a European mega-club. It would also be a first for Arsenal and that’s priceless. I think that winning the Champions League would allow us to step up to another level and to become the equal of the great European clubs. It’s the only trophy I don’t have and that the club doesn’t have."
Arsenal qualified as the top-ranked team in their group phase but needed a last-match win over Rosenborg to secure their place in the knockout round. Their previous performances - which included two draws with Panathinaikos and one with PSV - were unconvincing but count for little now. "We weren’t always in control of our destiny during the first phase, because too often we had the match under control and we were in no danger, only to end up being stupidly caught out and giving away draws," explained Henry. "We even allowed ourselves to be scared."
What Arsenal did not do, and in fact rarely do, is play a less-than-perfect game and still win. Henry wishes his team could "win ugly". "I don’t recall having won a match in a Champions League with Arsenal when we were bad. We can beat anybody, but the opposite is also true. We are aware of that, and that’s where we need to gain in consistency. We can turn a game into an exhibition and end up winning 5-1, but at the same time we can suffer a 1-0 defeat."
Juventus are the masters of winning ugly. "They do it a lot," he said, "with their defensive rigour and their three guys up front who make the difference. They are not always impressive but they win 1-0 or they lose 1-0, which doesn’t blow their chances for the return game. They manage to hold on to the essentials even when they are not particularly on form. We don’t. You can come out of a game against them thinking, ‘Yeah, so what?’ but you still lost."
The quality is not just an Italian one. "Manchester United also win those types of games when they’re not on top form and it’s the same for Chelsea. They’re not always brilliant, they don’t always score fantastic goals, but they get results." That is what Arsenal now need, starting in two days’ time.
The fixture list helps them later in the month, with Palace and Southampton providing the league opposition either side of the Bayern tie. By then, Henry may or may not be rested, but he should be scoring again. "When you play up front, it’s not always easy if you don’t have the legs," he said. "But as long as I can walk, then I can run. And as long as I can run I will try and give my best."
Henry's lost his va va voom
BEN LYTTLETON
IF JANUARY was the month that ended Arsenal’s hopes of overtaking Chelsea at the top of the Premiership, February is their chance for some redemption. The month starts on Tuesday with the visit of Manchester United to Highbury, and ends with the trip to Munich to face Bayern in the Champions League.
There were glimpses in last Sunday’s win over Newcastle that Arsenal are coming back into form: the passing was slick and the defence less jittery than in the draw to Manchester City or the defeat at Bolton. But the Newcastle game did not banish all concerns: up front, Thierry Henry missed a one-on-one chance against Shay Given and then miscontrolled a Jose Reyes cross six yards from goal. Both were snap chances that we are used to seeing Henry snaffle in a second. Any other striker could miss the odd chance and it would be forgotten. Henry, though, has different standards from other strikers. He has now not scored for five league games, his longest Premiership scoring drought of the season and his worst run since November 2003.
Tuesday would be the perfect time to end the famine.
"One thing is for sure: out there on the field, I have never hidden and I will never hide," Henry warned. "Football is not just about the good times: to be able to appreciate the good moments, you also need to pass through the more difficult periods without running away."
Henry was not as guilty as his team-mates of under-performing after United ended Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten run last October. He scored seven goals in his next seven games as Arsenal stuttered to draws against Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Brom. Compare that to Chelsea’s response when they lost their first game of the season, at Manchester City: they won their next eight games.
Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford - and the manner of the defeat - was clearly more emotive than that but their reaction to it did them no favours. Against the backdrop of the ‘Pizzagate’ scandal, Arsenal complained that referee Mike Riley made bad decisions and moaned that United had kicked them off the park. Both gripes were true, but the longer Arsenal harped back to it, the more their form became affected. Arsenal had not only forgotten how to lose but, more importantly, how to lose well.
The dilemma for coach Arsene Wenger now, is to avoid a repeat of last season, when Henry was not fully fit for the two biggest games of the campaign, the FA Cup semi-final against United followed by the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Arsenal lost both. But Henry does not want a rest. "From time to time, having a little break would no doubt allow me to come back a bit fresher, but if the coach asks me tomorrow to sit out a game so I can rest, I’ll tell him no. That’s the way I am. For me, every game is important."
Chelsea could be the biggest beneficiaries after Tuesday. If they win at Blackburn on Wednesday and the two chasing teams have drawn, they will move 12 points clear of Arsenal, and 11 points ahead of United with 13 games left. That lead may allow coach Jose Mourinho to rest key players like Arjen Robben before crucial Champions League games. It is a luxury Wenger and Ferguson, who are realistically battling to avoid a third-place Premiership finish (and therefore a place in the Champions League qualifying round), will not be able to afford.
Wenger needs Henry to rediscover his form soon, and if not on Tuesday, then certainly before the Bayern game three weeks later. No-one at Arsenal would ever concede that the title race is over, but Henry - like Robert Pires before him - has made it clear where his priorities lie. "The most important thing of all is success in the Champions League," he told France Football magazine.
"Let’s be clear about it, Arsenal have never really shown much in Europe. It would be great to win it with Arsenal. That would represent a real victory in my eyes, because it would have been easy for me to win it with Real Madrid or a European mega-club. It would also be a first for Arsenal and that’s priceless. I think that winning the Champions League would allow us to step up to another level and to become the equal of the great European clubs. It’s the only trophy I don’t have and that the club doesn’t have."
Arsenal qualified as the top-ranked team in their group phase but needed a last-match win over Rosenborg to secure their place in the knockout round. Their previous performances - which included two draws with Panathinaikos and one with PSV - were unconvincing but count for little now. "We weren’t always in control of our destiny during the first phase, because too often we had the match under control and we were in no danger, only to end up being stupidly caught out and giving away draws," explained Henry. "We even allowed ourselves to be scared."
What Arsenal did not do, and in fact rarely do, is play a less-than-perfect game and still win. Henry wishes his team could "win ugly". "I don’t recall having won a match in a Champions League with Arsenal when we were bad. We can beat anybody, but the opposite is also true. We are aware of that, and that’s where we need to gain in consistency. We can turn a game into an exhibition and end up winning 5-1, but at the same time we can suffer a 1-0 defeat."
Juventus are the masters of winning ugly. "They do it a lot," he said, "with their defensive rigour and their three guys up front who make the difference. They are not always impressive but they win 1-0 or they lose 1-0, which doesn’t blow their chances for the return game. They manage to hold on to the essentials even when they are not particularly on form. We don’t. You can come out of a game against them thinking, ‘Yeah, so what?’ but you still lost."
The quality is not just an Italian one. "Manchester United also win those types of games when they’re not on top form and it’s the same for Chelsea. They’re not always brilliant, they don’t always score fantastic goals, but they get results." That is what Arsenal now need, starting in two days’ time.
The fixture list helps them later in the month, with Palace and Southampton providing the league opposition either side of the Bayern tie. By then, Henry may or may not be rested, but he should be scoring again. "When you play up front, it’s not always easy if you don’t have the legs," he said. "But as long as I can walk, then I can run. And as long as I can run I will try and give my best."
I don't know about everyone else but to me this is best days. I grew up with Atari 2400, Commador 64 (hope I spelt that right) Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation, Playstation 2 (sucks) & of course finally the god of game systems XBOX. You know I love video games & I probably always will but ever since I got my Va Va Voom set up, I have almost forgotten about playing my holy than thou XBOX. (Almost) Long live VOOM the King of HDTV 
