The North Bank – “It’s got va-va-voom” (An Arsenal blog)

Right, straight off the bat I would like to point out that I am not comparing the character of Henry and Rooney. I am just talking about what I perceive to be the parallels  of the situations that both have found themselves in. Whether you agree or disagree is okay, it’s just something that I was thinking about as I sat eating lunch today. You may be thinking that I should have better things to be thinking about but there you go.

Of course the difference between the two players is night and day. Henry treats his body well and Rooney goes out drinking, pissing in streets and smoking. But, there are some parallels with the situations that surround their desires to move to pastures new.

Henry was caught cheating on his missus and Rooney has been caught cheating on his missus. Yes, Rooney’s infidelity was with a hooker but infidelity is infidelity in the eyes of their wives. Henry’s led to divorce. It remains to be seen how Rooney’s infidelity will play out. I can imagine his wife hanging on until he signs his monster deal with his new club before filing for divorce, thus allowing for a greater divorce pay-off and higher alimony.

The next parallel is a bit more speculative and up for debate. Henry was just passing the peak of his powers and was not the player that he used to be. He was still a great player, but just not quite at the same level that he had been over the previous seasons. His powers were waning and he was on the gentle slope down towards the end of his career. Rooney on the other hand, is still in his mid-20s but you could argue that his career will not be as long as Henry’s because of the way that he lives his life and treats his body. He drinks, to excess, and he smokes. Drinking and smoking is something that will catch up with a player sooner rather than later given the pace of the game these days. You could also factor in that Rooney has been playing regularly in the Premier League since he was 16 or 17, so his career will probably not last as long as the likes of either Henry or Beckham. I know that Henry also started young, but he player for several years in France and Italy before joining us, both leagues are played at a much slower pace than the Premier League. Rooney’s form has also been abysmal for the last six months. It may be wildly speculative, but there is the chance that Rooney could be a spent force by the time he hits 31 or 32, unlike Beckham, Henry and Pires who are all still going because of the way they have lived their lives and the leagues they have played in.

So, following this line of thinking regarding the age and career length of each player, coupled with the fact that Henry was at the club when we were in a financial position which meant that there was no money for any kind of substantial investment in the squad and the manager was put in a position where he had to embark on a youth oriented policy which would take a few years to reach fruition, if at all. Rooney now finds himself in the same situation at ManUre. They are up to the hilt in debt and clearly don’t have the resources to invest in the squad to any great extent. Their manager has said that they are embarking on a youth oriented policy that will take a few years to reach its potential. Sound familiar?

Henry left due to a combination of problems in his private life and the knowledge that he didn’t have the luxury of time to wait for our young squad to reach maturity. Rooney has well documented problems in his private life and he has now come out and said that his club don’t show enough ambition as they don’t have the resources to invest in the team. Rooney doesn’t want to hang around to wait for these young players to develop. I find that to be two very strong parallels between the respective situations of each player.

I’m not comparing the character of the two players at all, I just wanted to say what I saw as the similarity in the situations within each player found (have found) themselves.

Whether or not Rooney is telling the truth over his reason for wanting to leave is another thing but, taken at face value, I don’t think that this hypothesis is an unreasonable one to make.

I loved Henry when he played for us and I still do love him. He is up there with Pires and Bergkamp in terms of sentimentality. But, at the same time, you couldn’t argue with his reason for wanting to leave. He gave us great service and since leaving has continued to show the club enormous respect. Likewise, I don’t really blame Rooney for wanting out of ManUre, if he feels that they have no money to invest and the current squad will take a few years to mature, combined with the fact that Giggs, Scholes and Van Der Sar will all soon retire.

Anyway, enough about the parallel of the Henry and Rooney situation.

It’s too late now to talk about the Champions League game, but I would just like to state my great pride at seeing the reception that Eduardo was given at the Emirates on Tuesday night. He is an example of a true professional that left the club in the right way, with total dignity and fans don’t ever forget that. Therefore, he was duly rewarded for that honour and integrity. There was also the added element of sentiment from that fans for a player whose Arsenal career was cruelly cut short and prevented from ever reaching anything near his true potential with us. We will always be left wondering what might have been. Tuesday was a night when the fans showed their class. A good night to be a Gooner. It was also a historic night for Eduardo, too.

I really hope that Adebayor and Cole were watching the game so that they could see how much of a cuntbucket they were in the manner that they forced their exits from the club. Utter ballbags.

The AGM takes  place today but given that the questions have already been pre-submitted and screened for approval, I am not expecting anything earth-shattering to come out of it. It will be interesting to see whether or not Kroenke Tonk Stan decides to speak.

Anyway, that’s about that for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a look toward the ManShitty game this weekend.

Take it easy.