let me make this point first, thierry is my fave player on the planet~~ that said, there seems to be something missing in league play of late! i realize on the international stage he has performed well, but (and believe me my memory is hazy =), ect)it seems that he hasnt put the goals in like we are so accustomed... is it the marking becoming so tight on him and they let others have more space? is it fatigue from the world cup, CL, league play, ect? he is playing more of the set up man nowadays instead of playing his usual center forward! just interested to see how my other fellow gunner fans feel about this~ lets get through the blades on sunday and take the cup at old trafford!!!!! cheers phishy
Good thread and a point Ive been hesitant to make. I believe that Henrys work ethic or arrogance my be playing against him. I admire how he wants to be in every minute of every game but he grows cold at times and keeps the team down. The worse he plays the more he tries to go it alone. When hes on and thats more often than not, he is absolutely the best. Id also make a second point that the entire team seems to follow Henrys lead. If he is at his best the team follows suit but if Henry is not top notch the rest if his mates seem down.
All I can say is, I've seen this entirely too frequently at the recent matches: 1. Long ball goes over Henry, he dashes forward to trap it and take a shot. 2. Ref whistles for offsides. 3. Henry slowly walks back to position himself for the free kick, casting irritated glances over his shoulder at the ref. Bah. He either needs to work with his striking partner and the midfielders to move the ball up to the box and create opportunities, or keep trying to do his amazing long runs around the defense from midfield. Jumping on long passes too quickly has hampered him recently, IMO.
totally agree mike... the long ball sprints only to be waived offside is frustrating TH and the gunner supporters... remember when he would come and get the ball in the middle, take on a defender and use his pace during the run of play? where has that been lately? or am i just being an arrogant fan?
I think they have to get back to what was working earlier, and that was setting up Henry on the wing and letting him run past everybody. When he's at full-speed, nobody on the planet can keep pace with him. It also allows him to cut into the box and either shoot or set up somebody else. At the very least, they should get two or three more corners a game out of it, and possibly a penalty every once in awhile when a defender gets beat and pulls at him. Either way, let him get the ball, then run rather than vice versa.
I think that Henry just needs to work a bit harder when things are going against him. Instead he shrugs his shoulders and looks disinterested. You can't play well all the time and wehn you don't you should put in your shift to help out the team. I also think he converts a poor ratio of chances that he gets and that if he got into the box at all he could get a ton more goals every season.
Well, he hasn't been getting ANY service lately, because the midfield has sucked. If they were playing better, he would probably would be scoring more currently.