The flame thrower, make your peeps afraid to know ya.
How many times I told ya, “play your position” small soldier
Gangstarr – “Full Clip”
It’s now one of those rare moments where I post a transfer rumor and I refuse to believe that it’s true. But if it’s true, then it’s tied to a recent football learning experience of mine so I need to get my feelings out on the subject ASAP!!!!!
It’s rumored that FC Barcelona will unload striker Thierry Henry. Supposedly, they’ll try to dump the ex-Arsenal man while simultaneously attempting to snag current Arsenal man, Cesc Fabregas.
I spoke to my Barca-loving wife prior to posting this and if it’s true (and again, “if”), then she’s fine with it. Henry’s rumored to have an arrogant streak and she’s not a big fan of arrogant players (hates Cristiano Ronaldo). She also feels that he only scores when he wants to and that there are other players that can easily fill his Barcelona role, so he’s not as special as many think he is, including himself.
Maybe. But in an old Manchester United post, I stated that United in its current form is unbeatable, partially due to its scoring armada of a lot of forwards and attacking midfielders. Barcelona is Man U’s Spanish counterpart in this sense and Henry, I feel, has gone above and beyond in contributing to this makeup.
And there’s more. As I spend this season painfully observing the two teams I support, Real Madrid and Chelsea, I’ve learned that a whole bunch of new players doesn’t mean that that the team will immediately start to win. I’ve watched Madrid bring in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Rafael van der Vaart and other “good” players in the hopes that they’ll win games for the team. And although Madrid’s on is winning right now, the value of the contributions from the new guys is questionable. Huntelaar has rarely played since he came over and van der Vaart’s been benched a lot lately. With this, it’s tough for me to make the case that these new additions deserve a whole lot of credit for Real Madrid’s current winning streak.
And Chelsea? Well, Nicolas Anelka’s been making me eat my words all season. I’ve implied that the striker has been of no value to Chelsea since he came aboard last year. Fast forward to now and he’s the current leading scorer in the English Premier League!!!!! I’ll be touching on my Anelka mistake in (maybe) my next post.
I’ve learned that it takes time for a player to get accustomed to a new team in footie, so Thierry Henry is no different from Huntelaar, van der Vaart and Anelka in this respect. He had a crappy season last year, putting the ball in the back of the net on the rarest of occasions. Now look at him…kicking a** alongside Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. And speaking of Messi, he may be putting in some awesome strike work for Barcelona now, but remember that he barely caused a ripple for the team for the two years prior. He was given time to find himself.
Thierry Henry is consistently delivering results for FC Barcelona in the results-oriented business that is football. FCB needs to let this small soldier stay where he is and let him play his position.
Okay…he’s 6′2″ so he’s not that small. But the opening Gangstarr quote fits in nicely anyway.
Courtesy Yahoo/UK.
