Given his history with Arsenal and his standing at the club following Arsene Wenger’s influence on him, many expected Thierry Henry to be at the Emirates on Sunday.
The 40-year-old spent eight years with the Gunners between 1999 and 2007, becoming their all-time top goalscorer as Wenger helped him make huge improvements in his game while winning two Premier League titles and two FA Cups before later returning for a brief loan spell.
However, as Wenger bid farewell to the Arsenal faithful in his last home game in charge against Burnley on Sunday, Henry was at the Etihad as part of the coverage of Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations.
On one hand, he is contractually obliged to carry out his Sky Sports duties and if they sent him to Manchester, then there is arguably little he could have done to prevent that to be in north London instead.
Nevertheless, that excuse isn’t sticking for many supporters, as seen in the tweets below, as Henry has faced a huge backlash over his perceived snub of Wenger and Arsenal in favour of being part of the City coverage.
Whether he could have requested the day off or perhaps even have asked Sky Sports to let him attend the Emirates instead, he may well have done so and been rejected, none of that was enough to temper frustrations from the Arsenal fans below.
Given what they achieved together and the impact Wenger had on his career, it would be a shock if Henry didn’t pay some sort of big tribute to his former boss, albeit he did have a Sky Sports column dedicated to the veteran tactician on Monday morning.
With question marks over who will be the long-term successor for Wenger at Arsenal, controversies like these, whether fair or not, are unlikely to reflect well on Henry moving forward…
Thierry Henry prefers the Skysports studio than being at the Emirates to bid farewell to the man who made him….fake legend!
— Sidney ?? (@sidramatic1) May 6, 2018
We don’t care. He wasn’t there in person. Such an ungrateful human.
— Gini (@giniekay) May 7, 2018
Should have been there at the Emirates. He is what he is today because of Wenger. But Sky sports > Wenger
— Ajinkya Nàik (@ajinkya_afc17) May 7, 2018
Very disappointed that Henry was not there, thought better from him as he keeps saying that he is an arsenal man.
— goonergirl66 (@mandywatts909) May 7, 2018
@ThierryHenry
You should have been there T…!Not only did u let Arsene down but also the fans !
— Sajid (@sajidb786) May 7, 2018
Thierry Henry at the Etihad instead of the Emirates. Speaks volumes.
— SG (@seangooner) May 6, 2018
Don’t get me wrong but if Thierry Henry had wanted to be at the Emirates yesterday nothing would have stopped him. Don’t think Sky would have stopped him from attending Wenger’s last game considering we have a f*cking statue of the man outside the Emirates because of Arsene.
— Danny WelBeast (@WelBeast) May 7, 2018
I might be on my own here, but I thought it was quite disrespectful of Thierry Henry to turn up to
Pep’s title presentation rather than Wenger’s final home game. I get that he’s under contract, but surely he could have asked for one day off after all Arsène did for him?— Patrick Timmons (@PatrickTimmons1) May 7, 2018
Henry working for Sky over attending Wenger’s final game is disgusting. Doesn’t matter how it ended, the guy literally made you #ArsBur #MerciArsène
— ACS ???? (@AdamSamuel__) May 6, 2018