Henry & Reyes : can it work ?

Henry & Reyes : can it work ?

By Myles Palmer

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JOSE ANTONIO REYES is the man at the moment.

He is starting every game and playing well and leading the line and staying in the middle.

Thierry Henry may come back for West Brom, for Sparta Prague, or for Man City and Spurs.

In between Man City and Spurs, Arsenal play a Carling Cup tie at Sunderland on Tuesday 25th.

Reyes is an electric touch player, very skilful, explosively quick in short bursts, but also able to make 60-yard dribbles.

He leaves defenders for dead and wins a lot of free-kicks, but he is not yet a prolific finisher.

However, he can score a variety of goals because he is brave enough to get in where it hurts and win headers and flick-ons and knock-downs and rebounds.

THIERRY HENRY is Arsenal's superstar and I'm 100% sure he will sign a new contract.

He would not be as good at another club and he knows it.

A friend whose views I respect thinks Henry might go next summer, but I'm not not not not having that.

He would not go unless the wheels come off, and the wheels WON'T come off so catastrophically that Arsenal finish 8th

HENRY is the brand, the franchise, and he knows it, and he knows that he will be in a very strong negotiating position next summer.

But since this is his last contract, he wants to listen to offers.

He would not be as big at another club because he would not have a team built round him - and he would not enjoy pampering by the mentor who has made him the star of London's biggest club.

The Paris kid has prospered under his Alsacian guru and will continuue to do so, if he stays fit.

Henry plays off-the-cuff, mostly.

Arsenal play in fast avenues, rather than small triangles, like many teams, and his high-speed control and laser-guided shooting and killer assists are unique in world football.

He is VERY PRODUCTIVE.

But, being a spontaneous improviser, TH14 can be awful.

When he is bad, he is terrible. And very annoying.

THE $64,000 QUESTION : Can he form a partnership with Reyes ?

Can they play together? Can they pass to each other and make goals for each other?

This is a big issue. This is a big, big issue.

We know that Henry can play with Bergkamp and Pires, but neither of them will be there next season.

Neither will Cole.

Those three have boosted Henry's career a helluva lot in the last five years.

In the past, when Reyes doesn't pass to Henry, or doesn't pass perfectly, Henry has often glared at him or blanked him, as I have noted here.

At moments when the junior partner is looking for some encouragment, some acknowledgement, some support, it hasn't been forthcoming.

I've said before that Henry has gotta be bigger than that to help the young boy.

Now he's captain, he's definitely gotta be bigger than that.

JOSE REYES is an inarticulate lad from the South of Spain who is trying hard to make it in a team dominated by a world famous French superstar.

However, when Henry comes back, the dynamic might have changed a little bit.

Henry might be grateful for Reyes's bottle, his tackling, his energy and fearlessness in closing down defenders.

THIS SITUATION is something I've seen before in different Arsenal teams.

Years ago I watched one game where Tony Woodcock went 83 minutes before passing to Charlie Nicholas - and Woodcock only did that because he had three defenders round him.

I've seen Ian Wright destroy the confidence of Kevin Campbell and Alan Smith.

So Reyes-Henry will be something to watch, one of the sub-plots of the season.

October 7th 2005