The Arsenal Report

I don’t know why Myles Palmer continues claiming to be an Arsenal supporter. He obviously is not.

Palmer’s constant denigration of Thierry Henry while singing the praises of Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney, and Manchester United is getting ridiculous.

Palmer’s articles this year have become more and more absurd by the week. His Nov 21 article, “If Theo Walcott was 19 he could be Anelka with a Smile” took the cake, however. After several lines of Palmer complaining that Henry lacks both leadership and work ethic, an argument that is getting very tiring, Palmer went on to make this audacious statement:

“It’s folly to build a team round one player, especially a moody poseur like Thierry Henry. If he is not scoring, who will give you goals?

Myself, I prefer Wayne Rooney.

And I also prefer Kevin Doyle of Reading, who was playing for Cork City 16 months ago. Doyle is grateful to get a game and says, ‘I know I stand a chance of playing every week if I do what’s required.’”

Kevin Doyle? Is he serious? Is he talking about the same Kevin Doyle I see on highlight strips scoring scrappy rebound goals inside the six-yard box? The same Kevin Doyle who did absolutely nothing against us when we thrashed Reading 4-0 at the Madejski? Why? Because he doesn’t take a game for granted? Because he works hard? Never mind Palmer’s newfound ritual of praising Wayne Rooney (you’d think the Messiah had come in red and black) at every chance he gets, but seriously…Kevin Doyle? He could have said he prefers Doyle’s attitude, and that might have made perfect sense—but no, Myles Palmer claims to prefer Kevin Doyle as a player over Thierry Henry.

So what does Palmer have against Henry? Wayne Rooney goes through rough stretches like what Henry is going through now (remember the beginning of the season), but when Rooney couldn’t buy a goal and Henry was scoring at the beginning of the season Palmer was quick to take Rooney’s side, said that he would soon come out of his funk and score while he is quick to do the opposite to Henry. Why would Palmer write this? Keep in mind this was after Henry was inspiring against Newcastle. His free kick was one of the best of the year, and it earned us a draw with Newcastle. Had it not been for a couple bad deflections and one especially great save by Shay Given, Henry could have won us the game. He does not deserve Palmer’s constant criticism.

During the end of last year, as Thierry carried Arsenal through the Champions League and Premiership, Palmer was not so harsh. Henry put the team on his shoulders at Real Madrid. Henry picked the team up and earned a draw against Tottenham. Henry brought us into fourth place during Highbury’s final match. Palmer did not question work ethic or call him “moody.” His shift away from Arsenal and Henry to Manchester United and Wayne Rooney is unexplainable. He hides behind journalistic integrity, saying he is “a journalist who didn't give a toss about Arsenal until one Saturday in August 1986 when Charlie Nicholas scored a goal to beat Manchester United. A slim, dark-haired, immaculately groomed Glasgegian hard man came into the press room and gave us a two-minute pep talk,” but what kind of journalist makes conclusions that Thierry is second fiddle to the likes of Kevin Doyle and that Arsenal are “the R.E.M. of football while Man U are the Rolling Stones” without really saying why?

Palmer’s treatment of Henry, our captain, is tremendously unjust. He claims to support the Gunners but tries to tear both the team and its fans apart by constantly questioning Henry’s leadership. The game at Hamburg was a good example of how Henry contributes without scoring and why he is regarded so much higher than the likes of Kevin Doyle. Hamburg constantly was worried about Henry first, Henry second, and Henry third. The Van Persie goal’s through-ball only opened up because Henry had two defenders marking him. Baptista’s header only opened up because Henry’s marker was drawn away from the cross. Palmer saw a completely different player, however. Palmer saw Henry as a “paper tiger.”

Palmer claimed: “He was shrugged off the ball and several times threw himself down in the box and he picked up a silly booking. He's a girl in a man's game and it's no bad thing that he misses the Porto game after three yellow cards. If Arsenal win without him in Porto his 100K a week will look like a waste of money.”

I don’t know what game he was watching or what player he thinks he is talking about. Opposing defenses key on Henry more than any player and this opens up defenses for the rest of the team to capitalize on. This is exactly what happened against Hamburg. That “girl in a man’s game” has led us before; why does Palmer think he cannot lead us again?

Palmer is simply a patriot first, a journalist second and an Arsenal fan third. Therefore, because Arsenal has lost much of its English contingent, Palmer is biased against Arsenal and against Henry most of all. It pains him to see a Frenchman with the captain’s armband of his boyhood English team. Everyone knows that all strikers go through slow stages but Palmer is quick to attack Henry instead of giving him time to heat up again—to say he won’t score more goals is ridiculous.

And why does Palmer think Manchester United is so much better than us after we won Old Trafford? How could “R.E.M.” have out-rocked the “Rolling Stones,” as Palmer put it in his dumbest article this year. The answer is Pro-England bias, not legitimate journalism, and this upsets me. I want the old Myles Palmer back. I want to read cutting-edge, well-thought out articles that provided interesting analysis and introduced intriguing and unfamiliar ways to look at certain situations. If I wanted to read a Manchester United fan’s opinion on everything that is wrong with Arsenal I would. Hell, Palmer would probably claim that the only reason we did win at Old Trafford is because Henry wasn’t playing. It will be interesting to see what he says when we progress through the Champions League and eventually catch up to his precious Red Devils in the Premiership. What will he say about our “poseur” captain then?

By Joel Martin