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So, Thierry Henry has left North London for Barcelona. The writing has been on the wall for a little while but it is still very sad to see him leave the Premiership let alone Arsenal. You can see it from Thierry's side, he is 30, he has won the honors in the international game, but not the club honors he obviously wants. Wenger has been saying he is rebuilding the side and things are beginning to look promising, however Thierry knows time is not on his side. At Barcelona they have a side that, on paper at least, is the best in the world. They also play the expansive flowing football he thrives in, unlike Italy. He has given his best years to Arsenal and he is entitled to try to fulfill the last of his footballing ambitions.

Where this leaves Arsenal is another matter. The side is rebuilding nicely, the likes of Fabregas and Van Persie are looking like genuine contenders to be the best player in the world in the next few years. However the question remains around Wenger's future and the issue of Dein leaving is huge. In European football there is a tradition of the coach dealing with the training and tactics and their opposite number on the board (Director of Football, Technical Director etc) dealing with the contractual matters. The two work together to decide who to bring in and it isolates the coach from the niggles around contracts so he can, theoretically, be free to motivate and train the players to execute his tactics. The problem with many clubs is that the coach is held responsible for the results on the pitch and tends to get fired far more often than the director so often you find that the coach is expected to do something with the players he didn't choose. The most obvious place where this mis-fired was the Galacticos of Real Madrid, where a succession of coaches were given a collection of big name stars, but not a team. At Arsenal it was apparent that the Dein/Wenger partnership worked well. The players obviously respect and believe in Wenger, but it is becoming apparent that they also felt the same way about Dein, well as long as your name isn't Ashley Cole!

Now, Wenger has a year to run on his contract and I believe he will honor it, however what happens at board level is what will determine what happens next. Arsenal have taken on a lot of debt to build the Emirates Stadium and they need Champions League football to pay for it. This also means that they do not have as much money as their competitors, who have all been taken over in recent years

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