Interesting article post-Henry to Barca with regards to the Gunners. I have been remiss to not posting anything with regards to the Henry to Barca move. So a few thoughts:
- I have been clear that I thought Henry was destined to pursue his career elsewhere. I
think it makes sense for a player of his caliber to pursue the goal of European Club silverware at Barcelona. He would now have played in 4 of the "Big 5" leagues - France, Italy, England and now Spain. The move to Barcelona will give Henry a fresh start and allow him to grow as a player. Barca is a more veteran club, and has demonstrated their ability to succeed in Europe. - Arsenal had to move on, the rumors that kept swirling around their captain for 2 seasons was not allowing the club to make the moves and take the decisions necessary to achieve their ultimate goal - Champions League glory. The club could not allow this story to be the head line every time the transfer window opened. The question now remains, who, if anyone will Arsenal add to become the clubs #1 striker? The name of Anelka keeps swirling and it would be interesting to see him on his second tour of duty with the north Londoners. Arsenal will need to make a solid move if they are to maintain their position as a top -4 club in England.
- Barcelona finally got their man, I am not sure if they will be able to partner
Henry with Eto'o up front, since I believe that Barcelona will look to move their Cameroonian striker, especially after all the apparent or real disagreement between himself, the manager and Ronaldino. Barca might look to move Guily, Eto'o, Gudjohnson and Deco. However they have already added Yaya Toure which will infuse youth, toughness and talent in the midfield. With the Henry addition I would say that Barca is already a leg up this off season.
This transfer season is far from over and both clubs have moves yet to be made. Arsenal keep talking about the debt associated with the Emirates and why they cannot spend, an excuse I cannot totally believe. With the associated money from TV, Champions League, sponsorship and now gate, I find it hard to believe that Arsenal cannot service the debt and still have some left over cash to pursue players such as Anelka, Ribery, or Torres.
It will be interesting to see the squad that comes out on the pitch on Aug 11th against Fulham, but I am sure that there will be one or two new faces.
2 comments:
Frog, what do you think about Eduardo as a replacement for Titi?
Found a nice link to your blog:
http://france.worldcupblog.org/team-news/check-out-the-bean-town-frog.html
I think Eduardo is intriguing. He is an ex-pat Brazilian who was nationalized by Croatia so he could suit up for that nation. Having said that, it would appear that he is a second tier Brazilian, so not on the level of a Ronaldo, Ronaldino, Fred, or Wagner Love to mention a few. If this is the only move Wenger makes to replace Henry, I do not like the move, if it is a piece of a greater puzzle - like also signing Anelka, then I think the move was solid. I do have a lingering fear that Eduardo may become the next Baptista...which would not be good, not because of the talent but due to Wenger not giving the player the time to show what he can do and the time to adapt to the Prem.
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