Hello, just a very quick blog for you today as I head back to Dublin.
I don’t think anyone needs to hear any more about how we need this and how we need that in the transfer market. If you need to troubleshoot, our recap of yesterday’s Villa game covers it all. If you’ve already read it, you know what it says, and it will still be true if you read it again. There’s another game on Wednesday, so I might come back later in the week, but there’s no need to do that now. And ideally, if we ever have to resolve this issue, it would be after we win a landslide victory.
So last night I was lucky enough to attend the Football Writers’ Association event at the Landmark Hotel in London. It was a tribute to Dennis Bergkamp, who has featured on our shirts for many years. He was obviously there with his family, as well as a number of other people associated with Arsenal.
Ian Wright spoke. Arsene Wenger gave a speech. They showed a compilation of Bergkamp’s best moments, after which he was interviewed on stage. It was all very lovely. Then, as I was walking through the huge ballroom looking for people to talk to, Ian Wright introduced me to Thierry Henry.
I have never met Thierry Henry in my life. I am 53 years old. I said something like ‘Thank you for all the goals’ and I felt my face turn red. What on earth?! We talked for less than a minute, and as he and Dennis stammered more about bringing too many clubs, I was sure I had gone Toffee Apple Red.
He sat back down and I wandered around trying to regain my composure. This person has some presence. It’s no wonder Premier League defenders are in awe of him when he plays. He has been retired for 15 years and is still doing it. After a while I spoke with Dennis Bergkamp for a few minutes. The idea was to talk about the event and thank them for their contribution to Arsenal over the years.
Are you a little disappointed that the edit doesn’t show Steve Lomas’ elbow? Of course. But that’s my problem. He was, as expected, a very gracious man. And what a privilege it was to sit in that room with good friends, chatting, sharing memories and occasionally looking up at one of those amazing strikers and saying, ‘Wouldn’t you mind that in the team today?’ ?’
‘Damn straight!’
‘Imagine’.
‘is it so’.
And the topic would change until we came back to it again. Just to be clear, I’m not indirectly saying anything I said I wouldn’t say. But if you look at these guys and can clearly see what they do in an Arsenal shirt, then you can take a step back. Think objectively about how lucky you are to see what they did.
That’s 533 goals by Henry, Wright, and Bergkamp. It’s a good company to participate in, even if only briefly. And thank you to my table mates and my incredible colleagues, thank you for being there. That made it even more special.
Okay, I’ll leave it there and pack my bags before heading to the airport. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the Arsecast Extra yet, it’s out now, in all the usual places, and below if you’re feeling particularly lazy this morning.
Have a great time!
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