• by Fidel Leblanc, writing from Miami, FL

Would it be too cliche to say that Thierry Henry’s return to the pitch for the Arsenal was written in the stars? After all, everything pointed to him scoring a goal on his return. Yet, it was still such a surreal moment. When Alex Song’s exquisitely weighted through ball reached Henry, you just knew. Maybe with Marouane Chamakh or Andrey Arshavin, one would have been afraid of a miss, not sure about whether a goal was coming or not. But once it reached the French legend, most Gooners were beginning to stand out of their seats, the celebration beckoning them, and as if by clockwork, Henry took a wonderful touch to set himself and then guided the ball into the bottom-right corner. After that, pandemonium and mass euphoria struck the Emirates Stadium. Our usually disappointingly quiet home support absolutely erupted and that reaction is about an accurate measure of what Henry’s return has done to the Arsenal.

Its no surprise how badly we need an apt striker to partner or back up the absolutely amazing Robin van Persie. He has carried the goal-scoring burden willingly on his back, but there comes a point where one needs to rest with the confidence of your team-mates being able to carry on without you for a couple of games. Marouane Chamakh is bereft of any semblance of confidence when it comes to scoring goals and the fact that a 34-year old Thierry Henry was selected ahead of Park Chu-Young tells you all need to know about our striking options. Van Persie’s performance against Fulham was one which shows how badly in need of a rest he was.

There were many detractors and doubters about this loan move. There were those who said that it was a desperation move on Wenger’s part. Others said that it could tarnish Henry’s legacy if he were humiliatingly ineffective. He’s definitely on track to disprove that second one. In 11 minutes on the pitch, he showed that despite losing some of his physical attributes, namely his blistering pace, the man has still got it. His movement was more clever than Chamakh’s had been from the start. Leeds were forced to defend deeper because of a slower player than the one they had been facing until Henry came on. Such was the impact of the man’s presence.

This is a very smart move from Wenger, who has both solved a problem with depth, albeit temporarily, and galvanized the fans, players, and staff by bringing back a man who can be called nothing less than a true legend.

Welcome back, Thierry. Its like you never left.

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