Arsenal-QPR review + Henry’s back!

THE KING IS BACK… oh yeah, we also play some team this weekend.

Credit to @BeardedGenius for the picture.

By now you’ve heard the rumors. Read the Twitters, Sky Sports, and your old ma. Believed it straight away, or looked at the screen in disbelief, yelling obscenities, assured that Wenger took the easy way out, refusing to take a gamble on some multi-million euro German hunk. Or perhaps you cheered in joy, as you welcomed the result of one of our heroes. The majority of you probably just went to a different tab, indifferent as always to the nebulous online world of transfer rumors and mongering. Nevertheless, the King is back. Thierry Henry will return for a 2 month loan from the New York Red Bulls and will be available as soon as the Leeds United tie in the FA Cup match next Friday.

Now, there are both positives and negatives to this deal. The positives are obvious- the return of the team’s all time top goalscorer, overall club legend and someone who clearly still has an influence on this current team will be a boon to the team, and will hopefully lift the spirits of those who could use a pick-up (Theo, Ramsey, Arshavin?). There is, of course, the playing element to this too- we finally have an option for van Persie that isn’t the useless Chamakh or the nonexistent Park. Henry may no longer have the legs he had that enabled him to embark on THAT run at White Hart Lane 9 years ago, but he still has the same great footballing brain that made him come up with all of his iconic moves and tricks and ideas. He wouldn’t probably lead the line by himself anymore- he would delegate that role to our wingers in Gervinho (if he’s still here) and Walcott, and Ox if he gets a chance. Alternatively, we could revert to a 4-4-2 and he would be the second striker, acting more as the brain of the forward line while the other striker, van Persie in this case, would be there to finish the chances. He’s not cup tied for anything, he’s a legend of the club, and the thought of Thierry Henry scoring a winning goal against Manchester United or playing a one-two with Wilshere or celebrating with the new generation of Arsenal’s stars, in 2012, sends chills down my spine.

On the other hand, if a two month loan for a 34 year old striker who plays for the MLS is our main addition this transfer window, then wow, we might be in trouble. It’s obvious that this team needs further reinforcements, especially up front, but Henry is not the only answer. First of all, he’s only here for two months- once he goes back to New York, we’re back to having Chamakh as van Persie’s understudy. Henry will be great for nostalgia, another option up front, and other fuzzy stuff, but we definitely need another long-term attacker to be signed this January. Arshavin is gone this January, or he goes on a free this summer. Chamakh is pretty much useless at this point. And let’s not forget, van Persie’s and Walcott’s contract talks will come to a head at the end of this season. So we definitely need another striker to at least add another option up front and give us a bit of leverage and safety when we inevitably have players leave this summer. Be it Reus, Podolski, Really Good African Striker (Doumbia? Cisse?), or some other guy we haven’t heard of, a new striker could really help our squad. That, AND the temporary loan signing of Henry, could really boost our second half of the season and be a great help in our quest to finish in the CL spots.

But, what do I know? Henry will come, will score a brace on his debut, score a few more goals, and his second spell here will be regarded as the Second Coming for years to come. Or, he’ll go scoreless, appear somewhat lumbering and slow as most 34-year old footballers are, and have only a few flashes of brilliance as the re-signing is regarded as a disaster and Wenger is lambasted for not spending, again. There really is no balance with us fans. Let’s hope we at least find a semblance of balance for one of our most revered heroes.

Wait, what’s that? We play tomorrow? Premier League?? QPR? Joey Barton? Traore? Pants? Yes, tomorrow we play Queens Park Rangers at the Emirates, in a quest to get our winning ways started again and jump to 4th place. Fact is, we simply can’t afford to drop points to shit teams anymore if we want to finish 4th. Liverpool and Newcastle are thankfully playing each other today, and they thankfully have been in stuttering form, but on the flip side of the coin, Chelsea aren’t going to be dropping points forever. And Spurs are quite ahead of us, with a match in hand to boot. So this is what I call a mundane must win, because it’s an easy match that 3 points are normally guaranteed to come from. But you know this Arsenal team never makes it that easy…

Joey Barton's new pastime.

QPR, however, really should be easy prey. They have been in poor form recently, and currently sit in 16th place of the table, 3 points from the drop. They’ve only scored 18 goals so far, the 3rd worst in the League. And although their away form is better than their home form, their 3 away wins were against Everton, Stoke, and Wolves- bastions of English football I’m sure. Their top goalscorer is Icelandic striker Heidar Helguson, a guy who sounds like he’s trying too hard to be Fergie’s evil twin. They also have the talented but not too talented Alejandro Faurlin in the middle of the park, and of course, our old buddy Joey Barton. Let’s hope that if he and Gervinho have a confrontation, Barton actually have a reason to go down. Aside from that, they have our old lemon Armand Traore at left back, with Walcott relishing his encounter with him down the wings. A perfect time to grab a good home win against a team short on confidence, so let’s go out there and get the 3 points.

Team news are nothing new for this one. Walcott’s back from that stomach virus he had last week. Sagna and Gibbs will be back by the end of January, which explains why Wenger said he’s likely not going to shop for a fullback- Gibbs will get injured again but Sagna’s return is finally on the horizon, which is very, very good news. Jenkinson is still out with that cracked back of his. Miyaichi is back, but won’t feature. Fabianski is either in our out, but no one cares. Same for Diaby. Wilshere will be back by February. Finally, there were no new injuries or knocks from the Wolves game.

Based on the team we have, it should be a pretty standard starting XI for tomorrow:

Szczesny

Djourou   Koscielny   Mertesacker   Vermaelen

Song  Arteta

Walcott  Ramsey  Gervinho

van Persie

Subs: Almunia, Miquel, Coquelin, Benayoun, Rosicky, Arshavin, Ox

We should see the return of our regular starting XI for this one. The usual substitutes will be on the bench, although Frimpong likely won’t feature since he’s about to go to Wolves on loan (read his Twitter if you don’t believe). Benayoun and Rosicky had good games, but let’s hope Ramsey has rested well over the holidays and is raring to go for this one. For the millionth time, I also hope that Ox gets a chance, although that probably won’t happen. Oh well, Henry’s back!

QPR are there for the taking. We play Fulham only 2 days after tomorrow, so let’s win. For Henry.

Come on Arsenal!

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Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Hello, Introductions, Premiership, Preview