Arsènal

by Alex Fynn

  David Dein later revealed “We turned down two world-record deals from Spanish clubs. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out who they were.” (At the time the highest ever fee was the £47 million paid by Real Madrid for Zinedine Zidane to secure his services from Juventus in 2001.) When Dein added that “Our message was clear – he wasn’t for sale. I’d like to think he heard that”, one suspects that he can only have been talking about the past, as in 2006 Henry was most definitely on the market until pen had been put to paper to secure his services until 2010.

  That Henry did decide to remain was a huge shot in the arm for both the club and its supporters. “I had two aims at the start of the week” said the manager, “to win the European Cup and then to make Thierry stay. I only managed one of those but, for the future of the club, that’s certainly the best one. I believe this season has created a special bond inside the team and there is much more to come. Wednesday night reinforced that feeling among the players and if you want to continue that progression it would rely on Thierry’s decision. It is basically an insurance for the future.” This despite Wenger later admitting “It’s not difficult to anticipate [that his performances would fall away as he got older] but I still signed him on a long contract because Thierry Henry has so many qualities that he could have played behind the striker as well. Or on the wing.”

  If there was understandable euphoria at the time, hindsight provides a different perspective. The reality is that, even though Henry was terrific box office, he cast a shadow over the club, one that inhibited the development of an ever-increasing number of young teammates. His contribution in the final season at Highbury, his first as club captain after the 2005 sale of Patrick Vieira to Juventus, had been monumental. Not only did he lead the side to a Champions League final, his Premiership goals (27 in 32 appearances) ensured that the club finished fourth and guaranteed their participation for the next competition. Certainly, a first season at their new opulent home without Champions League football would have been a bitter disillusion – more so in that it would have been Tottenham who would have ousted them if the last day results had worked out in their favour. “If Thierry went to a club like Barcelona or Real Madrid he would just be a prince,” said David Dein. “Here he knows he is a king.” And therein lay the seeds of malaise.

  Life began at their new home with many of the more experienced heads having departed, and along with Jens Lehmann, Gilberto Silva and later William Gallas, Henry was outnumbered by callow young men barely out of their teens. He spoke positively of his role as an elder statesman, but so often his body language conveyed a completely different message. If a pass went astray, or was not made in his direction, he would often glare witheringly at the guilty party in the manner of a disapproving parent. Cesc Fabregas later admitted, “Henry intimidated us. He is a great player but it was not easy to play alongside him.” Even for an unworldly personality such as José Antonio Reyes, whose command of English was practically non-existent, Henry’s disdain was all too apparent. Little wonder he couldn’t wait to get back to his homeland and – ironically – the more accommodating regime of Fabio Capello at Real Madrid. It would be too late for Reyes, but after Henry, Fabregas emphasised that “Now it is different.”

  As the weeks went by at the Emirates, opponents quickly surmised that if they were able to stifle the home team with weight of numbers in and around their own danger area they could cope with the threat. Arsenal’s desire to hold onto the ball until a gilt-edged chance was fashioned meant a lack of penetration. This was in spite of dominating possession and due in the main to prioritising Henry when, perhaps, it would have been better either going it alone or finding a better-placed colleague.

  If Henry had gone and Pires had stayed, the team would have been able to play with more cohesion and fluidity, with a greater number of players weighing in with goals and assists. As Henry was injured for much of the campaign, the supporters became accustomed to seeing, on a regular basis, an Arsenal side without him. Indeed, some of the team’s most satisfactory performances took place when he was on the sidelines. The Carling Cup run that culminated in a losing final against Chelsea showed the squad possessed real potential that was now ready for promotion. That final – Arsenal’s last visit of ten made to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in the seven years that Wembley was out of action marked the start of an 11-day period in which their involvement in all three cup competitions came to a sorry end. An FA Cup fifth-round replay at Blackburn saw an extra-time exit, before PSV visited north London the following midweek and concluded their host’s European adventures for the season, despite the gamble of Henry entering the fray during the second half when patently not in physical shape to do so.

  In fairness to Henry, there was every indication that he was never fully fit at any stage of the season and at the beginning of December, Wenger took the decision to rest him on the eve of the Emirates’ first north London derby. There were back page headlines stating that Henry had taken the news very badly and argued with his manager before storming out of the training ground in a fit of pique. That version of events was vehemently denied by the player. “No one actually knows what we said to each other and still they are speculating,” Henry said. “Nothing that has been said in the paper is true. I did leave the training ground disappointed on Friday because I wanted to play against Spurs. Nobody forced me to not play. It was a discussion that we had and I was upset because I don’t like to not play. I want to be on the pitch. But sometimes you have to be honest with yourself and listen to your body.” In Wenger’s view, “August 15th finished Henry”, a reference to France coach Raymond Domenech’s insistence on playing the striker for the entirety of a friendly against Bosnia–Herzegovina. “He came out from an exhausting season that finished with a final in the Champions League and the final in the World Cup – which he both lost – and on top of that he didn’t get the FIFA World Player of the Year. It was difficult to swallow because he knew he arrived close to 30 and that was the year for him. He didn’t get rewarded and it was a killer for him. He was physically and mentally exhausted.” After a summer devoid of a decent rest, Wenger knew the vital importance of not rushing back his star forward. Henry was not even considered for the first leg of the critical Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Zagreb, even though it took place over four weeks after he picked up his runners-up medal in Berlin. “We do not play with players who are not at a certain level of preparation,” stated Wenger, a hint that was patently ignored by Domenech.

  By the beginning of December, Wenger had seen enough to know his captain was way below par. He was still scoring goals and registering assists, but the familiar burst of pace was sadly absent. Nevertheless, despite his better judgment he continued to select him until their spat brought matters to a head. Wenger decided to bite the bullet and admit that physically the club’s record scorer, though not yet even 30, might have fallen victim to the immutable law of diminishing returns. And to expect a continuation of season after season of 25 goals and 20 assists (which had come to be taken for granted by Arsenal fans) was unrealistic.

  Henry probably didn’t help his cause with his newspaper column in The Sun on the day of the Tottenham game as he began his enforced rest. He said, “Our situation at Arsenal is like a boxer going in the ring, a lightweight going up against a heavyweight. You can have a surprise sometimes but, more often than not, the heavyweight will last longer over 12 rounds. The depth of the squad is nowhere near the others. I am not having a go at the board or the manager. It is just a fact. There will always be teams that have more money than you. But you can rest assured Arsène Wenger will try to – once again – land a few bargains in January. Even using the loan system, there are top-class players who would jump at the chance of first-team football. One player who springs to mind is Chelsea’s Shaun Wright-Phillips. If he could be picked up on loan, I’m sure he could do a great job, given half a chance.” Arsène Wenger doubtless did not take kindly to Henry telling him how to do his
job. So when quizzed on Henry’s comments, his terse response – “I don’t know, you should ask him,” – hinted that his captain was operating outside his remit. Less diplomatic was an unnamed international colleague who told the French press that the striker is “an enormous bighead who cannot take criticism”.

  In truth, after what turned out to be his final appearance in an Arsenal shirt against PSV, Henry could have been pressed back into service for the final weeks of the campaign, but as there was little likelihood of failing to ensure a top-four finish and Champions League qualification, nor on the other hand of challenging for the top two positions, Wenger took the opportunity to assess the prospects for the following season rather than field one he had already decided was expendable. Henry’s sudden sale in the summer to Barcelona for £16.1 million took supporters by surprise in much the same way as had Vieira’s to Juventus two years earlier, not least because the day before the news of the deal become public, Henry took part in the launch of Arsenal’s commercial relationship with Ebel watchmakers, a very ironic piece of timing.

  Henry’s own willingness to leave the UK may have been influenced by the break-up of his marriage, news of which came out after the move. He reportedly told friends, “Lots of things have changed recently and I had to get away from everything English, including my wife unfortunately. It’s a very sad time for all of us, but you’ve got to know when to move on.” The feeling had been growing that perhaps he had been too hasty in rejecting Barcelona’s advances. Certainly, a year earlier the Catalans had believed they had their man, whom they anticipated – after their double of the Champions League and La Liga – would set them up wonderfully for the defence of their titles. They felt they had been badly let down by Henry. A year on and Ferran Sorriano, Barcelona’s vice-president in charge of all economic activities, was prepared to try again, but only after Henry had indicated a change of heart. The departure of his close friend, David Dein, on the one hand and the close professional ties with the Dein family on the other – Dein’s eldest son Darren is Henry’s commercial adviser, and his daughter Sascha, who had worked in Barcelona, acted as a conduit – facilitated the rapprochement between the two parties. As Arsène Wenger recalls, “He’s a very intelligent guy. And he said, ‘Listen, I have two or three years at the top, top, top. We have a very good young side but I do not want to wait for success. And so I want to go somewhere where I can get immediate success because in two, three years that will not be possible anymore for me.’” Barcelona received the assurances they sought and the transfer was speedily concluded. Yet Wenger emphasised: “It was his decision. Like it was his decision to stay. But when he wanted to leave I didn’t want to stand in his way because if he feels deeply like that as the captain of the club I want to do what he wants.”

  An ill-timed correlation among some of the more mature players who have left Arsenal in recent years was that they seemed to become injury prone with their new clubs. Certainly this applied to both Vieira and Henry (the former missing spells through injury at both Juventus and subsequently Internazionale and the latter experiencing a stop-start first season at Barcelona). More seriously, Edu and Robert Pires both missed almost their entire first seasons with their new Spanish clubs as a result of pre-season injuries. Going further back, Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit also had problems remaining fit at Barcelona. Whether Wegner anticipated falling performance levels or they were just unfortunate coincidences only he can say. With hindsight, his judgment on when to let older heads move on is rarely at fault, even if there is a good deal of head scratching at the time.

  Undoubtedly the longer Wenger manages, the greater is his own preference for youth (and physical capability) over experience, although he acknowledges the gap in his team’s armour created by the potential mental fragility that this can bring. Which begs the question, is his policy a consequence of Hobson’s choice (with a limited available budget) or a genuine conviction that it is the only way to achieve optimum results in a sport that is becoming ever faster and placing greater physical and psychological demands on its participants?

  Despite the company line that Arsène Wenger’s transfer budget was unaffected by the board scrambling around to raise funds to build their new home, the facts tell a very different story. The summer of 2001 was the last period when substantial sums (£22.5 million on three players) were spent in the close season. The outlay in the following three summers totalled less than £15 million – and that amount was recouped by Vieira’s transfer alone. Wenger did buy Sevilla’s José Antonio Reyes in January 2004 for an initial payment of £10.5 million, although there was not enough in the kitty to complete the purchase of Robin van Persie from Feyenoord, whose move, despite only costing £2.75 million, had to be postponed for six months. Perhaps if Van Persie had arrived earlier, the Invincibles side may have able to extend their prowess to the FA Cup or Champions League, where they fell agonisingly short. It was a matter of keeping the ship afloat rather than trying to keep up with the liners disappearing over the horizon, a policy that sunk Leeds United.

  So the manager had to gamble on potential rather than relying on reputation, prospects who would be unlikely to reach the standard of Vieira, Henry and Pires as rapidly, if at all. As a consequence for two seasons the club was well off the pace at the top of the Premiership, yet ironically Wenger was inured against criticism by the move that had created the handicap in the first place. There was little danger of lack of demand to attend for the final season at Highbury, whilst the novelty of the Emirates also produced full capacity. So despite the extra 22,000 places (a good portion of which were in the highly priced middle tier) as many were coming through the turnstiles as would have if the team they were coming to see were the Invincibles reprised.

  The only real imposition placed on the manager as he replenished his resources was the prerequisite of year-on-year involvement in the Champions League for the income it guaranteed. He pulled it off, but certainly flirted with danger as qualification became a serious distraction in Highbury’s home stretch, Arsenal only squeezing past Tottenham and into fourth place on the last match day. Points were certainly sacrificed as more and more of the players pencilled in for his future plans were blooded: the defence that was put out after the turn of the year often featured 24-year-old Kolo Toure as its oldest head.

  During the Invincibles season, Wenger was questioned about the optimum age for footballers.

  “I’m convinced that up front now you need to be young,” he began.

  “Up front? I remember last year,” said his interviewer, “you talked about the optimum ages throughout the team. Can you tell me how you feel about that now? How old does a goalkeeper have to be?”

  “Between 30 and 35”

  “And a central defender?”

  “I would say best age 26 to 34. Midfield between 26 and 32 and a striker between 24 and 30. Those are the top ages.”

  “But you’re breaking those rules with some of the young players aren’t you?”

  “Exceptional talents break the rules – that means they play early – they make their own rules. I do not say that these players do not play before [they reach the optimum age] but they are at the top of their potential during this period. But before, because they have an exceptional talent they play already.”

  “What about some of the other key qualities for each of these departments in the team?” Wenger was asked.

  “Well I would say at the back it’s concentration, apart from all the quality you look for . . .”

  “In an athlete?”

  “You need to be an athlete everywhere, but I must say for me the top quality for a defender is concentration level.”

  “Don’t you only get that though when you get older?”

  “Yes, because you get more cautious, and he is a fireman, a defender, he always predicts the worst and tries to have a position where he can correct it. So that’s easier when you get older. When you’re young you live off the cuff. Midfield – a technical level and up f
ront pace.”

  “And you would say that you have that throughout the team at the moment?” his questioner continued.

  “Well we have qualities I feel are very exciting and overall a very good technical level and a very good athletic level. Then I think we have above that a great spirit in the club and in the team.”

  With the financial restrictions placed upon him, Wenger’s shopping had to be even smarter, which meant procuring less-established players than he might have picked up in more affluent times. The mark of a typical signing during this time was their anonymity, even those who were already internationals. So instead of Kanu, possessor of a Champions League winner’s medal, 2006 saw Emmanuel Adebayor join from Monaco – an unused substitute in the 2004 final with a loser’s medal for watching his vanquished teammates. Who in the English game was familiar with Abou Diaby or Bacary Sagna from Auxerre? Even internationals like Alex Hleb and Eduardo had fans wondering about their pedigree. The one exception was William Gallas, an atypical signing as the likelihood of Wenger hiring a 29-year-old apart from a goalkeeper under normal circumstances are almost non-existent. However, David Dein was determined that if Ashley Cole was going to Chelsea it must be at the cost of weakening their squad rather than making a minuscule dent in their owner’s bank balance. A more characteristic purchase who arrived at the same time as Gallas but with far less fanfare was the 18-year-old Brazilian Denilson from São Paulo.

  Of course, the debatable decision to dispense with experience was a matter of choice for Wenger. Starting with Dennis Bergkamp, the policy of only offering single-year contract extensions to the over-30s was introduced. Thus, a player in his late 20s knew that any deal he signed would be the last to give him any long-term security. If the new approach meant the loss of Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord (who was offered a two-year contract as a 29-year-old, but rejected it in order to be able to leave on a free transfer) then so be it. The manager was prepared to forego a potential transfer fee rather than subsidise for any length of time someone who he felt had his best days behind him. On occasion, Wenger’s intransigence strained relationships. While Dennis Bergkamp was prepared to accept what was on offer and come back for more at yearly intervals, others wanted and felt they deserved greater security. It became apparent from January 2004 onwards that Wiltord would leave in the summer and, once he had recovered from injury, he was marginalised in much the same way Ian Wright had been several years earlier. As Wiltord went on to enjoy three title-winning seasons with Lyon, there is certainly an argument to be made that Wenger would have been better served by retaining him in spite of his age, rather than investing heavily in his youthful replacement, José Antonio Reyes, who ultimately flattered to deceive.