I am an Arsenal fan first and foremost and I am a firm believer in the 'player go player come' philosophy. My allegiances are to the club and not to any individual.
I know Thierry Henry is held in very high esteem by the Arsenal fan base. He is a legend, he was a legend as a player. The statute outside the Emirates is evidence of this.
I share in the adulation of him and bask in his achievements for the club BUT it is looking like Thierry Henry the pundit will never measure up to Thierry Henry the player.
I was very upset when he came out with his recent comments about Olivier Giroud. What was he smoking or drinking? Did he fall into the proverbial trap of opening mouth before engaging brain? I know many including Wenger have responded to his bizarre comments about Giroud with stats and they have recognised the pressure Pundit Henry was under to deliver controversial comments and clickbait articles. Good for him if that is the path he wants to toe.
What amazes me is the risk he was taking with those comments.
1) Having a pop at your country's number 1 striker
2) Having a go at your supposedly favourite club's striker
3) Risking your relationship with Wenger (Arsene's capacity to bear grudges I hear is legendary)
4) Risking a backlash from the Arsenal fan base
5) Risking your relationship with the players (attack against one is an attack against all)
What kind of madness makes a man risk everything he has achieved for a fledging punditry career? I understand his Sky contract was a massive one financially but the man is not short of a few bob is he?
Constructive criticism is good. Bizarre ones NOT AT ALL. I accept Arsenal is yet to win the league and Henry might eventually be proved right if Arsenal don't win the league with Oivier but we won't know this until either Olivier retires or leaves Arsenal. Except Thierry has a crystal ball he won't know too. Yes he can give his opinion but his opinion should be based on something like stats which for now is at variance with the opinion he has expressed on Giroud. They might be based on intuition which effectively is hot air. Or is this another form of Gooner baiting seeing as it appears he has made those comments to generate a response. Maybe Thierry Henry is the new Adrian Durham. If that is what he aspires to, he should come out clearly and not pretend he is this great Arsenal luvvie while pissing into the tent.
Just a couple of reminders about some of Mr Henry's views
1) He wanted Arsenal to re - sign Alex Song. The tweet of that has mysteriously disappeared from his twitter timeline. We can all see how Alex is about to win the FOTY award. Non?
2) The illogical criticism of Chicharito for not celebrating with Ronaldo. Where on earth did that come from? I don't remember Monsieur Henry celebrating much with Jose Antonio Reyes in their playing days at Arsenal. What happened then Thierry? Did you just develop these new set of values or did the Sky Bundle / Package deal happen?
A final word to and on Thierry. Maybe if you had played out of your skin and single handedly won Arsenal the Champions League in Paris that night in 2006 or you had played to the best of your ability and won Arsenal back to back Premier League titles or even emulated some crocked club in the North West by winning Arsenal a treble, the club and his manager won't be the subject of some of ridicule from no nothing pundits.
In my opinion, SKY SPORTS CAN NEVER WIN THE PUNDITRY TITLE WITH A PUNDIT LIKE THIERRY HENRY. THEY NEED A TOP TOP PUNDIT
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