I'll be giving away a result in this thread, so as a courtesy to those seeing my post on the homepage who may be waiting for Fox Sports World's rebroadcast, I'll babble on for a couple of paragraphs before getting to anything about the Arsenal-Liverpool game. I won't even say whether Henry played, which ought to leave you guessing. So to fill space and give me adequate disclaimer, let me say that I have no strong loyalty to Arsenal. Friends of my mother-in-law are Arsenal supporters and have sent along a bit of merchandise for me, which I think is nice. I sometimes lean toward Arsenal in the Premier League just because I don't like to see the same team win every year, but I don't have any sort of antipathy toward Man U, especially now that they have Tim Howard and a handful of younger Yanks on hand. Oh -- and this new Brazil-Portugal Nike ad in which they take off and start playing in the stadium concourses is fantastic. There ... have I done enough to bury the result? Just to be sure, I'll test the "spoiler" tag here: [result]In the name of all great soccer, please watch this game.[/result] On we go ... I'm a little confused as to why Tino Palace has turned against Arsenal. The treble is gone, the double is gone. But I can't see why any neutral would begrudge them a Premier League title. They're just so ... so ... so incredibly good. Today's game a masterpiece when it was needed the most. Playing Liverpool in their first game since the twin calamities, Arsenal twice fell behind. They then asserted their will on the game in a way that only a champion team can. And then there's Thierry Henry. The recent "Ruud vs. Henry" debate poses a classic question -- do you prefer a striker who doesn't play an all-around game but is lethal in the box, or do you prefer a player who is less of a classic finisher but is dangerous no matter where he touches the ball? For me, it's not a question of loyalty to Arsenal or United. It's a question of aesthetics. I'm going with Henry because of games like today and goals like the second one he scored today, in which he sliced through the Liverpool defense (and even the teammates who realized too late they would only be decoys on this play) and finished emphatically. It's certainly not just Henry. Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg had their moments today, Patrick Vieira offered his usual proof that defensive midfielders need not be devoid of skill, and Dennis Bergkamp showed that his skills have eroded little over the years. I understand that there are people whose varying club loyalties means they can't support Arsenal no matter what. Fair enough. But those who are cheering for Arsenal to fail simply out of lust for the "Triple Choke" might need to question what they like about this game. When Arsenal plays, it truly is The Beautiful Game.
Only haters would not appreciate the game that Henry and his teammates play. Oh well, woe be unto them.
As a long-time Manchester United supporter, it pains me to say that Arsenal thoroughly deserve to win the Premier League this season.
Henry is from a different planet. Its as simple as that.. Its as if you know he is going to score against you sooner or later. You simply try not to anger him. If you do that, he might just decide to run up the tally on you... I hate to admit it. And this is coming from a ManU fan.
Another non-Arsenal fan's opinion... If Henry doesn't win FIFA's Footballer of the Year this go around I'm going to start believing that contest is rigged. The next thing you know, Mia Hamm will win the award in a year where she hardly plays a game (Sherman! Set the WABAC machine to 2002! ) As incredible as Henry's second goal was, there were two other moments in the game that should be noted in this thread. The first was early in the game when Henry had several close chances (even put the ball in the net a time or two) but was ruled offside. It was clear that the backline couldn't deal with him and it was only a matter of time before he was going to shred them. Then on the third goal, Dudek's clearance comes off Henry and right back into the goal. It just goes to show how dangerous Henry is...he just makes goals happen!
This is also from a non-arsenal-fan point of view. Henry is just incredible, there isn't anyone that can even come close to his scoring record for the games that he's played. Of course it's not just him scoring, he also makes things happen for other players on arsenal. If Henry wouldn't have played yesterday, I think that Liverpool could have won that game. But Arsenal are just a totally different team when Henry is on the pitch, and I have nothing but respect for him and Arsenal, and they definitely deserve the Premiership Title this year, and that's pretty hard to admit as a LFC fan, and I give my best friend(an Arsenal fan) that glory.
This past Friday afternoon, I was at a local English tavern for the Arsenal-Leeds United encounter. As an expatriate Franco-Englishman living in the States for the past eleven years, it was extremely gratifying to see Thierry Henry send a loud, powerful message as to why many consider him the best in contemporary world football. This guy's ability to glide past defenders is absolutely spellbinding. For a goalkeeper, the sight of the fleet-footed striker bearing down on goal has to be frightening. I particularly enjoyed that cheeky penalty kick. My only hope is that he stays fit to turn on the style In Portugal this summer.