Henry on the Bench? Again?

I begrudgingly understood when it happened the first time at Old Trafford. The fixtures were piling up, and Arsenal didn't need to win that game.

But we were all very much under the impression that Arsenal had to have this game. This was the North London derby. This was for a Champions League place.

But when Arsenal kicked off against Tottenham on Saturday afternoon, the best player on either team was on the bench.

And if Thierry Henry is on the bench, is Arsenal better than Spurs? The answer is no. And Saturday's 1-1 result was very fair, regardless if you think Spurs scored their goal a bit cheaply.

Arsenal has two routes into the 2006-07 Champions League:

1. Overcome a 4 point deficit to Spurs. Arsenal had four games left: Spurs (h), Sunderland (a), Man City (a), Wigan (h). Spurs had three left: Arsenal (a), Bolton (h), West Ham (a). If Arsenal were to beat Spurs and win out, Spurs could not catch them.
   
   
2. Win the Champions League this year. This would require making 1-nil hold up at the Madrigal this Tuesday, and beating Barcelona or Milan in a one-off game on a neutral pitch.

Now, I ask you - which is the easier route?

It's a catch-22, really. There is only one trophy the Gunners can still win this season - the Champions League. It is the most prestigious club football competition in the world, and they have a real chance at winning it. But, Arsenal must secure Champions League football for next season. They have a self-funded 60,000 seat stadium to fill next season (and a whole lot of debt to pay down).

And then there's Henry. He's been playing this "will I stay or will I go?" game for months. It's hard to believe Henry stays at Arsenal if there's no Champions League football next term, especially with Barcelona calling.

So what is Wenger to do? The fixtures are piling up and the season is winding down.

Today, he made it clear what the priority is: to win the Champions League - THIS SEASON. Anytime you start your best player, your captain, your only real goalscoring threat on the bench in a game like this, you've made your intentions clear. Going into today, there were only five or six (should they make the CL final) games left in the season. Henry could have played today. But Wenger is making it clear - goal No. 1 is the Champions League, and he wants his best players ready to go on Tuesday.

You can hardly blame the man. He's never been this close. It's the one thing that's missing on his CV. He can almost reach out and touch that pretty, shiny silver trophy. It's been a disappointing season domestically for Arsenal. Much like Liverpool a year ago, if you win the Champions League, everyone will soon ignore your struggles at home.

So, it's a calculated roll of the dice. We'll know if Wenger got it half right after the return leg this Tuesday against Villarreal. But we won't know if he got it all right until after the final on May 17.

But Arsenal are now in a position, following Saturday's draw with Tottenham, where they no longer control their own destiny in the league. If Spurs win out, they get 4th place.

If Arsene Wenger made the right call today, a day which he has made his intentions crystal clear, we could find Arsenal in possession of a rather large trophy by mid-May, and by next season Henry captaining the Gunners against the likes of Real Madrid and AC Milan in a beautiful new stadium. But if Wenger got it wrong, he'll be trophy-less, out of the Champions League, and spending his weekend evenings at home watching his former captain scoring goals in a lovely new red and blue striped shirt on Sky Sports.

Yes, I realize I write about Arsenal too much. Thank you. Tell me about it at bookableoffense@gmail.com