Arsenal - Thierry Henry
Arsenal - Thierry Henry
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A new winger can look tidy at home and still be the first change on the road. Away games in this league do not wait for a player to settle.
Arriving alone into a side that already works is an advantage. It is also how the gaps show up faster. There is no new manager to hide behind.
A hamstring then takes the argument off the pitch for a fortnight. The tape is still there when he comes back.
Thierry Henry says Christos Tzolis has started well at Arsenal but is still struggling away from the Emirates. The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge for £34million in the summer, via PAOK and Norwich, after a move for Vinicius Junior did not happen. He is yet to score for the club and has one Premier League assist. He scored 43 goals in 108 games for Brugge.
Henry told Betway: “I’ve been following him for a long time since he was playing for Club Brugge. He’s a very neat team player, he works hard, he’s not shy to be on the ball, he has an eye for a pass, and when he cuts back inside he can can give you a couple of assists, as we’ve seen already. He hit the ground running straight away.
“It does help when you arrive and you’re maybe the only attacking player arriving in a team that’s already working, compared with if there are four or five new players and a new manager.
“You can see that he’s still struggling away from home. He has to understand what’s happening when you play the away in the Premier League, especially as we saw in that Aston Villa game. But that’s normal. Overall, I think he has done well.”
He was substituted at half-time for Eberechi Eze in the win at Villa. Henry called that a normal problem that still needs fixing if Arsenal are to challenge for the league and the Champions League.
The next away game is not his to fix yet. Tzolis was forced off in the 18th minute of Greece’s draw with the Netherlands with a right hamstring injury, after a goal had been ruled out for offside.
Reports have him facing about 20 days out, which would mean missing Leeds on 10 October, Lille on 13 October and Nottingham Forest away on 18 October. Bayern Munich on 21 October is a doubt. Everton at home on 24 October is the more realistic return.
Kai Havertz is already on his own muscle-strain timeline. Gyokeres has been waiting for a league start. Henry’s away-day note can wait until Tzolis is back on a pitch. The scan decides when that is. The Villa half decides what he still has to prove.