Wenger may have to face life after Henry

ARSENE WENGER has always known that he will eventually have to confront a future which does not include Thierry Henry, but he could never have expected that day to arrive so soon.

Henry’s decision to spurn Barcelona’s flirtatious advances in the summer — a move which gave his Arsenal career a look of permanence — has now been exposed as a mirage. This morning, the forward will meet his manager for talks over his future, a meeting precipitated by a furious disagreement over Henry’s fitness — or lack of it — last Friday.

The 29-year-old was enraged when informed by Wenger that his neck injury had not improved sufficiently for him to feature in Saturday’s derby with Tottenham, and promptly left the club’s London Colney training centre before the morning practice session had even begun.

Henry spent most of the weekend attempting to defuse a raft of explosive headlines, but already the damage may be irreparable. The Parisian has always enjoyed a close bond with Wenger — it is one of the reasons he decided to see the club into their new Emirates stadium rather than decamping to Catalonia — but the latter is apoplectic at seeing his authority called into question in such a public fashion.

Much now hinges on the manager’s capacity for forgiveness. Wenger has traditionally shrugged off reports of disaffection within his squad, but this is the first time such remarks have been attributed to Henry, someone the Frenchman has come to view as a surrogate son, having rescued him from footballing oblivion at Juventus.

“I have a very good relationship with Thierry,” Wenger said on Saturday, “and I’m sure we will have a good relationship again.”

Perhaps, but Wenger did not sound convinced. The rancour runs deep and there is now a strong possibility of a parting being arranged, if not for the January transfer window, then at the end of the season, with Barcelona and Real Madrid waiting with open chequebooks.

It is a scenario which will plunge the red half of north London into mourning, and yet Wenger may not share their melancholy. While he remains fit, Henry’s extraordinary range of talents will always dictate his inclusion, but Arsenal are no longer toothless when stripped of their captain. Their most impressive victory of the season — at Manchester United in September — was secured without the safety blanket Henry’s presence provides, and Saturday’s was their most polished home display since leaving Highbury.

There is a growing suspicion that Arsenal’s team dynamic functions more smoothly when Henry — whose effusive personality dominates to such an extent that the Emirates PA announcer routinely refers to the home side as ‘Thierry Henry’s Arsenal’ — is absent. It is no coincidence that Wenger espoused the spirit of collectivism after seeing his charges climb to third in the table.

“We gave a great team performance,” he added. “We must remember that the club is made up of hundreds and thousands of people. We have a responsibility to them.”

It would be absurd to suggest that Arsenal would be better off entirely without Henry — it is scarcely a fortnight since he rescued his side from defeat to Newcastle with a breathtaking free-kick — and he remains hugely popular with his team-mates. Emmanuel Adebayor refers to him as a “brother” and he chose to celebrate with Henry, not his playing colleagues, after shooting Arsenal in front mid-way through the first half.

“It’s easy to understand why he’s upset because I’m not happy with the way things are going,” he said. “It’s not only difficult for Thierry, it’s difficult for everyone — the boss, the players, the chairman. We are passing through a difficult moment but it’s not a problem with Thierry, it’s a problem with the team.”

There were never likely to be any hiccups against an inexplicably powder-puff Spurs, whose abject away form is hamstringing their efforts to replicate last season’s fifth-place finish.

Luck did not favour them. Graham Poll mistakenly decided that Pascal Chimbonda’s inch-perfect sliding challenge on Tomas Rosicky warranted a penalty and he missed Robin van Persie’s handball moments before awarding another spot-kick for a foul by Jermaine Jenas. Gilberto converted both with ease, but Martin Jol was not in the mood to seek scapegoats.

“We have players who are talented and get lots of praise but we need to grow up a bit,” Tottenham’s head coach said. “This squad is more talented than last year but not as strong.”

Arsenal, travel to FC Porto on Wednesday knowing that any result other than defeat will mean progress to the knockout stage, and they do so without the suspended Henry.

Their performance in Portugal will offer Wenger a peek into Arsenal’s future.

Opta Fact: Emmanuel Adebayor’s 20th goal was the earliest scored by an Arsenal player at the Emirates in a Premiership game this season.

Opta Fact: All of Arsenal’s Premiership home games at the Emirates stadium have finished as 1-1 draws or 3-0 to the Gunners.