Monday, January 9, 2012

Leeds Preview - Henry Returns

Leeds in the FA Cup feels a little like deja-vu since we played - and struggled past - them last season. Hopefully Henry will start tonight so we can see what he can contribute to the team straight away. Anything close to this and we will have a really good option to interchange with RVP for the next two months:


It's highly unlikely that he will be able to go on those swashbuckling sprints that destroyed many-a-defence when he was at Arsenal last. But with Theo Walcott - and potentially Oxlade-Chamberlain - in the team the pace-aspect of Henry's previous style can be compensated for.

But anyway, Wenger was never looking for that when he re-signed him because what the team really needs from Henry is his sniper-like abilities in front of goal. I've bemoaned in several previous posts (Van Persie aside) the team's increasingly-crippling profligacy in front of goal and hopefully Henry will help arrest that.

In my opinion, the dream for Wenger in the next two months is that Henry provides a reliable option to rotate with - and support - Robin Van Persie, assists in getting the likes of Ramsey and Walcott amongst the goals more consistently and of course provides a few himself. Hopefully by the time Henry returns to the States, Park or Chamakh (or both) will have shown signs that they can be counted on to interchange with Robin, Gervinho and Chamakh find their touch in front of goal while away on international duty and Vermaelen, Sagna, Gibbs, Wilshere and Diaby all recover fully from there respective injuries. Its an idealistic outcome but it isn't completely out of the question either. The injured players just mentioned are all on course to come back in the next month. Chamakh will play consistently for the first time in a year at the ACN which will certainly give him a confidence boost. And Henry undoubtedly has the ability and presence to improve the team and his team-mates significantly.

It's hard not to feel positive when we have our all-time top goalscorer back at the club. It may only be a temporary fix as regards the size of the squad but it might be enough to propel the team towards the top four and maybe even engineer sustained challenges for the Champions League and the FA Cup.

So on to tonight, and the Leeds game will provide Wenger with a chance to rotate players - albeit not many considering the size of the injury-list. Van Persie and Arteta are nearly guaranteed rests after being involved in almost every Premier League game since the start of the season. The boss might consider bringing Yennaris in at the back since Djourou is suspended and Coquelin is worth another start tonight after giving a good account of himself against Fulham. Up front, it will be curious to see who gets the nod. Henry is likely to start with Arshavin and Chamberlain taking the wide-berths either side of him. What will be very curious to see is if Park plays any part in the game. He hasn't played a single minute of any of our Premier League games and wasn't even worth a place on the bench for most of those this season. If he plays no part again tonight then the situation regarding the reason for his place in the squad will become highly perverse.

As for the game, the Gooners really should ease through this one. Leeds have been struggling of late, losing three of their last four games in the Championship. However, the longer the game stays level tonight the more they will fancy an upset so the Arsenal players will have to keep their concentration and take the initiative early on in this match. I'm thinking 3-0 with Henry to score.