Wenger mulls starting Henry with RVP for Arsenal against Swansea

Will Thierry Henry start up front with RVP at Swansea on Sunday? Probably not I reckon, AW has stayed coy over his plans but if he didn’t start him in the 1-0 win over Leeds in the FA Cup then he’s hardly likely to in a Premier League game with three vital points at stake is he? But Henry did make a dramatic goal-scoring cameo in that game…so who knows?

Any road up Henry has been chatting ahead of the clash and he has hailed Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea City ahead of this weekend’s Liberty Stadium showdown, describing the Swans as “an amazing team”.

Tel said: “Swansea are an amazing team. I’ve been more than impressed with them, they play football the right way, they’re dangerous, they play with two great wingers and we know it’s going to be a difficult game for us.”

As mentioned AW has kept his cards close to his chest on the selection. he said: “Robin will be back against Swansea. Will Thierry start or not? I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided.

“He can play behind or in front of Robin or on the flank, Robin can play on the flank too, but I don’t know yet what I will do. They can play together, of course, and they did play together.”

Meanwhile, Robert Pires won’t be following in Henry’s footsteps. The 38-year-old has been a free agent since leaving Aston Villa in May and rumours circulated he could sign a short-term deal after training with the squad in the last few weeks.

The Frenchman is looking at a move to China and if he does not get a move there then he will retire. “It is absolutely not my intention nor the one of Arsene, who is already ‘full’ in the midfield,” he told L’Equipe.

“What is nice with English clubs is the fact they have respect for former players. What happened with Henry, or Paul Scholes at Manchester United, has not surprised me. The beautiful story between the Gunners and Henry is going on. Not mine.”

He added: “I am waiting for propositions from Asia. Nowadays the new destination is China. I am on the negotiation level. I have also first contact in India. That is cool. That would be a nice destination on every level.

“I am waiting to see what could happen with China later in January. As its league will resume soon, it should not last too long. If I have nothing else at that moment, I will stop.”

I did love Le Bob…

BTW, a few of the lads are still looking for tickets for Sunday – anyone got any spares?

CARL ELDRIDGE – Thumbing a lift to Wales on Twitter @eldoemedia