Arsenal legend Thierry Henry hoisted the Emirates Cup in his emotional return to North London. Robin van Persie scored for Arsenal in the first half, but an own goal late in the match damaged the Gunners. The game ended in a draw, and the Red Bulls were awarded the cup.
Jack Wilshere was forced out of the match in the 7th minute after suffering an injury. After the match, Arsene Wenger stated the severity of the ankle problem: “It is not very serious. They say he might be out for the whole of next week because he has an ankle inflammation. But he has not torn anything.”
Thierry Henry received a loud ovation upon entering the pitch. Signs and banners were present across the crowd, making sure the all-time scorer felt the love. The French striker showed flashes of his former self, including a whipping free kick that almost found the net.
Arsene Wenger had planned a special surprise for Henry: “The surprise was that we wanted to him to play in the last five minutes for us. He was desperate to do it, but the referees stubbornly turned it down.” Had Wenger been able to complete this stunt, the Gunners very well might have won the match and the cup.
Arsenal dominated the match, but the Red Bulls sat back and defended well. Finally, Robin van Persie found the net in the 42nd minute. Tomas Rosicky curled in an expert free kick, and the Dutchman tapped it past the keeper with his head. Arsene Wenger talked after [...]
Arsenal will be taking on Boca Juniors of Argentina and New York Red Bulls during the next two days. Thierry Henry will make an emotional return to the Emirates. Arsene Wenger has good news on the progress of Theo Walcott’s injury.
The Emirates Cup is a two-day, four-club tournament that takes place at Emirates Stadium. The four teams are Arsenal (of course), Boca Juniors, New York Red Bulls and Paris Saint-Germain. This preview is centered around Arsenal, who will take on Boca Juniors later today and New York Red Bulls tomorrow.
Cesc Fabregas will miss the Cup due to on-going transfer negotiations with Barcelona. Theo Walcott will sit out due to an ankle injury, but Arsene Wenger does have good news: “It is better than expected. He is ten days out.”
When asked if Walcott will be healthy for the start of the season, Wenger replied: “He could, we are hopeful.”
Arsenal will play Boca Juniors today at 16:20 BST. Juan Roman Riquelme plays for Boca now but he was starring at Villareal when the Gunners played the Spanish side in a 2006 Champions League semifinal. Jens Lehmann saved Riqulme’s penalty late in the match which could have brought Villareal level. Here is what Riquelme said yesterday about the incident:
“It was one of the saddest memories of my career and one I will always remember. I thought we were stronger than Arsenal and deserved to play in the Final. We were quite unlucky, I missed a penalty and Arsenal managed [...]
Arsene Wenger has been talking his side up in Malyasia. He believes that Arsenal are good enough to win the league this season. Apparently, they are ready to reach their full potential. We have heard it all before:
“I believe we are perfectly good enough. What we did last year, considering the age of the squad and the problems we had with injuries, was a credit to the team and we have a good opportunity now to show that we have the quality. If you are a winner, you say: ‘We were very close last year, let’s do it this year.’ You come back.
“I believe that the real destiny of this team is now there. They know as well as I know that we were very, very close last season. We intend to show everybody that we can do it. We are a young team and we can only be better. It demands the strength of character that the champions have. That’s what we want to show.”
Wenger is much more optimistic now than he was at the end of the season. Arsene even admits that last season’s collapse took a real toll on him: “It was because I took full responsibility for what happened. I knew at some stage that it was lost and I had so much hope for the team, because through November and December, you could feel that the team had really taken off and could win everything. And it was so close.
We have a match against Leyton Orient tomorrow night. With everyone still recovering from the Carling Cup Crisis (CCC), the Gunners will host Leyton Orient and the winner will advance to face Manchester United at Old Trafford in th next round. Everyone is already looking past this match to the Barca meeting, and that’s what worries me. Robin van Persie will miss the next three weeks with injury, and Cesc is still questionable for the Camp Nou game. Injuries are aplenty in the Arsenal camp. Will we be eliminated from the FA Cup tomorrow?
Tomorrow can be a bounce back game for the Gunners, or it a can be a match that sees us fall further down the slippery slope of embarrassing defeats. That’s what that game on Sunday was, embarrassing. The second goal was just plain embarrassing. Why couldn’t Birmingham just have scored a goal from open play without us just handing to them? Why!?
Let’s get to the injuries. Here is Wenger: “Unfortunately, we had bad news on the scan and he will be out for the next three weeks for sure. It could be longer. The shortest delay we can imagine is three weeks [so] he is definitely out for Barcelona.
“Alex Song has a knee problem as well. From his scan we had good news, it is only blood from a kick on the outside of his knee. He is out for Leyton Orient and has a very small chance for Saturday. But he has a [...]
Former Arsenal star Patrick Vieira recently proclaimed that Man City striker Carlos Teves is as good a player as Thierry Henry. Here is what Vieira (now a Man City reserve) had to say after Man City defeated Leicester on Tuesday night to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup:
”Carlos is as good as Thierry Henry. They are different players but when you want to win trophies you need a striker who can score 20 to 25 goals a season.
”City have that type of player in Carlos. He is someone who can win you games. Even if you don’t play well you know he will create a chance by himself and score it. If you want to win the championship or/and FA Cup, you need players like that.”
No offense to Tevez, but I do not think he is at the level Henry was at during his prime. Sure, he is an important player to Manchester City, but he is not as good as Henry. Tevez has not yet led City to a Premier League title.
While the Argentine did have productive seasons at United, he was not the reason those teams won trophies. R&R (Rooney and Ronaldo) had something to more to do with that. Since joining City in 2009, Tevez has accounted for 66 goals in all competitions.
Now let’s have a look at Henry. During his statically best seasons (from the 2001-02 season to 2005-06) he scored over thirty goals in all competitions each season. [...]
