UNTOLD ARSENAL » Blog Archive » Thierry ready to leave Barca – but what would we do with him?

Thierry Henry said in an interview published on 26 September that he will consider leaving Barcelona in January if the coach Pep Guardiola leaves him on the bench much more.

What the great man actually said in L’Equipe was, “For now, it is not a matter of the moment. But if things stay the same, of course we’ll have to talk about this,”

Admittedly this isn’t quite the same as “I’ve had it up to ‘ere with this bunch of sheep and I want out and I want out now”, but maybe my translation skills aren’t what they were.

Our old friend didn’t actually get onto the pitch during Bar-bar’s 3-2 win over Real Betis on Wednesday.  Not even on the wing, which he doesn’t like (and if you recall that was where he was playing fairly uselessly when Wenger signed him and converted him to a centre forward.

Our man in Barcelona said that he thought he would play up front this season when he decided to stay in the summer.  Guardiola, speaking in that open, honest and truthful way that all Barca people use, said he didn’t want Samuel Eto’o anymore  – and that left the door open.

And following the normal pattern of Barca events Eto’o is now the usual starter.

In L’Equipe the interviewer asks Thierry if the boss had told him he would be the regular starter in the centre forward slot as he was at Arsenal.   Thierry replied…

“It is true I had a talk with the coach before the season began. For me, this talk was very clear,” and added that on the strength of that he had turned down offers from elsewhere.

So now it looks like he is off again and the android press will be running “Thierry’s coming home” stories just as soon as they can find someone who can speak French – and someone else who can write English.

But what would we do with him?   We have, in no particular order…

Adebayor, thought to be leaving in the summer but whom the stats suggest scores 1 goal every 2 games – which is utterly astonishing.  He runs around a lot which is good.

Van Persie.  Reckoned by most blogs last summer to be not even worth counting since he would get injured in the warm up to the first game, he’s doing incredibly well and clearly scares the shit out of everyone who plays against him.

Bendtner.  Reckoned by many web sites to be decidely third rate, he just seems to score goals – and fairly neat ones too.

Carlos Vela.   Ignored by most blogs or dismissed as “just another kid – we need proven ability” I gave him my vote as the potential discovery of the year, and so far he’s not letting me down.  I’d at the very least have him on the bench every game.

Eduardo.  Said by many to be unlikely to return to his best.  Due to return in about 8 weeks, so we’ll see.

Where on earth would we put Thierry, wonderful player though he is, in among that lot?