In all my years as an Arsenal fan, i can't remember a time when i have seen Henry celebrate like that. I have seen him celebrate with passion, with anger, with heart but last night was something different, as he said...he scored and celebrated like a fan. You could see the rush of uncontrollable emotion run over his body for the first 3 or 4 seconds and it was a joy to watch. This is the type of moment that makes you honoured to support Arsenal, nobody but Arsenal fans will understand how big a moment this was and how special it was to watch.
Somebody mentioned on twitter before the game that this will be some Arsenal fans, first real experience of seeing Henry, they will know he is a legend of the club but missed his twilight years. Yesterday they will have got a taste of that and realized just how big he was and is for the club. Before he came on the pitch, you could see the asset he was bringing to the club already with his knowledge. I think it was Arshavin had a shot which he skewed over, the camera cut to Henry giving advice to Walcott on how he should have taken it. That kind of information is invaluable and will help the whole team with their finishing. The passion he has for Arsenal will rub off on the other players which can only be a good thing. The last thing i will say about Henry is that, it is an honour and pleasure to have him back at the club, which you can see he truly loves.
In terms of the team selection, i was surprised at how strong it was. You could see Wenger clearly didn't want a repeat of last years replay situation. Leeds offered very little and unfortunately we didn't create very many clear cut opportunities. I thought Ramsey had a good game and will definitely make the Soccer AM show boat for some of the tricks he was pulling off. I thought Arshavin had a much better game although his shooting boots have been left behind somewhere. I would like to seem him start against Swansea and see what he can do with a second game in space of a week, something he hasn't experienced for a while. If he could get a cheeky goal, then he really could push on for the second half of the season as he wasn't short of confidence in taken on the Leeds fullback.
A mention for Arteta, he was given the Captains armband, which should not be undervalued. You can see that he has had a big impact since he has been at the club on and off the field. He is a very calming influence in the center of the park and he rarely gives the ball away. I also can't think of many times he has got a rest, yet he keeps performing. Chamberlain had a solid game and showed some good crosses, definitely deserves more game time from the bench, especially now Gervinho is away for 2 months. Chamberlain can not only control a shot to keep it down but also hit it with a lot of power. I would love to see him really push Theo for the remainder of the season as i believe he has the potential to offer as much.
Lastly, what is up with our full back position, it is cursed. Coquelin who was gaining valuable experience and also playing really well is now out for around 3 weeks by the sounds of things. It leaves us very short for the weekends trip to Swansea and playing against their two fast wingers wont be an easy task for whoever has to slot in. I am fearing more of Squillaci, but we could just put him at right back and he will get injured within the first 45 minutes. Not a bad idea actually.
Right, i said it was the last of Henry, but here is one more picture.
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