13-Jun-07 We Need to Understand French Culture Better - for now
What a difference a "for now" has made to two full weeks of tabloid gossip, posturing, blogging and more recently - potential lawsuits.
If Thierry had said "I am an Arsenal player", then we could have erased this entire period of nonsense. However as he said "I am an Arsenal player for now", the implication that everyone drew was that "for now" meant a finite period of time, likely ending in the coming weeks.
GARBAGE !
I hate generalising, but there are certain aspects of the French culture that lead to mis-interpretation. One of the principal (and often unfair in my opinion) criticisms levelled at the French is one of arrogance. What Henry meant by including the "for now" in his statement was this:
"I am an Arsenal player today, and I have signed a long contract and affirmed my commitment to this Club on a regular basis"
Being the player he is and the culture he belongs to, Thierry Henry does not believe he "owes" the club or the supporters a formal statement on a regular basis stating his love for the club and desire to stay at Arsenal for the rest of his career. A legal document demonstrates his desire to stay at Arsenal, and he no doubt wants all the supporters who craved his long term commitment to not call into doubt his decision with every tabloid rumour.
I agree. That is why I spent a fortune on the signed 2m x 3m photographic montage of his goal from the halfway line against Spurs at the Highbury auction.
JF
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Allow me to present a different point of view. TH DOES indeed owe the club and the fans to stand up and say in clear terms that he is committed to Arsenal. He has done zilch to show me or most Arsenal fans that he cares about the team past the point where it serves his own personal interests. Period!!!
Are you telling me that to expect from a person, who is rewarded magnifiscently on a personal and financial level the curteousy to at least say that he shares the cause. Unbelievable! When did we all turn into groupies buying posters?!
If you need someone to adore, that is fine. But to confuse this misplaced loyalty with a rationale about cultures, is beyond ridicullous.
Besides, how much is a contract worth once a player seizes to commit to the cause?
As I clearly am more concerned about the future of Arsenal football club and not Thierry Henry, I will clearly prefer Henry to leave as he has not shown anything even resembling the loyalty and leadership we have come to expect from previous Arsenal captains.
Come to think of it, that is not really true. Vieira was a twat too. Believed the "Larger than life" label placed on him by the adoring fans, and he lost track of reality.
Tough! And I actually will miss Vieira more than Henry, as Vieira (albeit being less talented) displayed more passion for the team and the process of winning games for the team than improving his own ego.
Thierry Henry is a great talent, and a great sportsman, but he is no leader and he is not a winner. And we need that much more than we need the talent.
Gus J.
You are spot on.You hit the nail right there; it's unfortunate, afterall that we've done for this guy. He can't even say no or yes. He feels too big, even meddling in management. He was warming the bench at Juventus when AW rescued and moved him from the wing to centre forward, now the rest as they say is history.He is very rich and popular so much so that even Gordon Brown spoke about him recently. Who did all that for him? Arsenal of course. He can go, Arsenal will move on. When Righty retired, I fell sick but we moved on. Who knows? Bendtner might be the next deal.