Vieira confident Gunners will bounce back from Henry blow
Former Arsenal favourite Patrick Vieira insisted Tuesday that the Premiership giants will bounce back stronger from the big blow suffered by the loss of striker Thierry Henry.The Inter Milan midfielder believes the atmosphere at the Emirates stadium will ensure the club copes with the departure to his France international teammate to FC Barcelona.
"Thierry Henry is a huge player and it is a big blow for the club to lose him, certainly," Vieira, who played with the Gunners from 1996 to 2005, told the website www.feelfootball.com.
"I know how it feels to leave Arsenal, and it is hard. But this has happened before at Arsenal, losing big players through the years, and the club always comes back.
"When I left Arsenal I know they had good quality players in midfield to come in - they had Cesc Fabregas to replace me.
"They have good quality players up front too, with (Robin) Van Persie, who has been injured but is really good, and (Emmanuel) Adebayor. They have the quality to do well, but it will not be easy."
Vieira was at Arsenal when the club suffered what was seen as an equally big blow - the retirement of Ian Wright. Henry arrived to fill the void and Vieira admits that anyone taking his position will have to make a similar impact.
"You have to remember, when Thierry came in he had to replace Ian Wright, which was not an easy thing to do! He achieved that and broke all the records, so the person who will take over from Thierry will be in the same position. They will need to do the same thing he did.
"It is important to know that nobody is bigger than the club itself and I hope Arsenal will keep progressing. The club can still progress and they are in a good position. They have a new stadium and all big clubs have a big stadium, so now they need to get the results to be at the very top."
Vieira believes that Henry will soon settle in at Barcelona and there should be no issues with him partnering Samuel Eto'o up front.
"There are no doubts, he will be very, very good at Barcelona. He is a quality player so I am sure he will fit in very well.
"People are talking about how he will play with Eto'o and I don't think there will be an issue. To have Henry, Eto'o, (Yaya) Toure, Ronaldinho and (Lionel) Messi in the same team is just fantastic."
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