As both my loyal readers know I was on vacation last week. One of the stops was Barcelona and since there’s no football to watch I settled for a tour of the Nou Camp. While perusing their “museum” I came across this:

I looked for a nearby trash can to puke my guts out and couldn’t find one, the only other option was to hurl all over the stereo that was blasting out the Champions League theme that originally attracted me to that part of the museum. Instead of the CL theme they should be playing this video over and over again. It’s much more fitting of the real story and would do justice to everybody involved on that most unfortunate of days.

The Nou Camp sure runs a pretty crappy tour, you can’t even sit in the players seats and there’s not even enough space to stand on the sidelines with all the gypsies around. You can’t even take pics in certain areas, WTF? I also did the Santiago Bernabeu tour which was much better, all I kept thinking about was the Henry goal. Here are some pics from both stadiums.

They’re selling Henry shirts in almost every store in Barcelona. It hurts to see that shit. There’s so many kids wearing Barca clothing (and I mean shorts, shirts and socks) that you don’t even think that it’s a football uniform anymore. The Nou Camp is a money making machine really, no wonder they can afford anybody they want.

I’m beginning to see Jose Antonio Reyes’ point about the weather. See I was in London where it was hot, balmy with overcast skies and girls looked like they wore diapers. In Madrid and Barcelona the weather was picture perfect and even the ugly women were somewhat good looking. I say all the power to Reyes for wanting to leave England for Spain, he just wants to get some ass in the sun. Can’t really blame him.

The biggest thing I realized was how inferior Toronto really is to Barcelona or Madrid in terms of public transportation, airports, street system, cleanliness, facilities, restaurants, atmosphere, nightlife and just about anything else you can think of. The only good thing about coming back was the in-flight movies – Children of Men and The Lives of Others. The former is good, the latter is brilliant.

The most chaotic time I ever had was ordering a coffee and a sandwich at Heathrow Airport, that place is overcrowded to the point of a stampede breaking out any second. Also swung by Marrakech where the temperature never dips below 65 Celsius. Great historic town, worth a visit if you’re into history ‘n stuff and aren’t afraid of getting sun tattooed to the point of dehydration.

Here’s something for you Raptors fans, do you recognize anyone in this pic?

I’ll get back to blabbering about the Raps, TFC and the Gunners soon enough.

PS: Thanks to my wife for taking a blurry photograph of me and the Champions League trophy. I mean how often do you get a chance to take a shot like that? Don’t worry honey, I’ll still try to love you.

Those freaking Spanish gypsies

Looks like it really happened, reports out of Spain say its a four year deal with a 16 million pound transfer fee. No confirmation yet from the English side but they have Barcelona club officials quoted as saying its pretty much a done deal with some t’s to be crossed. The fee is extremely low and blood is coming out of my head after scratching it for the past hour – Henry’s contract over the next four years at Barcelona will be around 16 million, thats 4 years and 4 million. So in a way, Arsenal just sold Henry for nothing. I didn’t mind selling him but not in pesos, I was thinking bidding would start at 30 million. I just can’t understand it.

Anyways, search for closure now. Henry spent the best years of his career at Arsenal, he’s still an awesome player but probably in decline and coming of injuries. I’d rather have him here than at Barcelona but maybe this is one of those things that might be a blessing in disguise. It’s time to find us a new striker. My biggest worry is that other players like Rosicky, Fabregas and Adebayor might see this as a really bad sign and want out of the situation.

The writing was on the wall for quite some time but it still comes as a little surprise, he had pretty much said he’d retire as a Gunner but I guess your word doesn’t mean much in this business unless its in writing. Arsene Wenger’s got to feel like shit right now seeing how he’s the one who developed Henry into the player he is today, sad day for the Boss but if there’s a manager that’ll know what to do it’s him. We just need to give him some time and the club needs to give him some money so he can make something happen on the market. You can’t replace a player like Henry overnight, it will probably take years before we get another player of his caliber. He’s the type of player you tell your grandkids about and I’m just happy that he spent the prime of his career with Arsenal.

The new stadium has been a curse of sorts on us, nothing has gone right since it was built.

The only guy that pisses me off more than Eto’o is Patrick Vieria, since when did he become Henry’s official spokesperson and why doesn’t somebody just tell him to shut the f**k up and get a hobby. Actually wait, why doesn’t Henry tell him to put a sock in his mouth and let him do his own talking. Sounds to me Vieria’s still bitter about not being offered enough money by Arsenal a couple years back. Honestly, who the hell is he to tell Wenger to ‘Show Henry you’re serious’. Eat a dick pal.

That little twat Samuel Eto’o must be celebrating with his gypsy friends like there’s no tomorrow. It’s not an automatic start for Henry though, he’ll be competing with Eto’o for the lone striker role. You know I’ll be cheering for Real Madrid and Sevilla next season in La Liga. With Messi, Eto’o, Henry, Ronaldinho they’ve just taken over the role of Galactico’s of Spain from Real. Here’s hoping they reek next year.

One final thought: I want Nicolas Anelka back.

I really didn’t want this to happen. Couldn’t finish my meal after Ronaldinho made a damn fool of the Bremen wall.

Comments welcome.

1-0 – Ronaldinho making Werder Bremen look a fool

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp3EOpAgbsc]

2-0 Defensive breakdown by Werder Bremen

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAIt0l7qpLE]

It’s imperative that Barcelona fail to win tomorrow in their Champions League clash with Werder Bremen. This wouldn’t do much for Arsenal but it would give Thierry Henry reassurance that he made the right decision in the summer.

It’s only natural that Henry might be thinking “what if” especially after Gunner losses of late and the squad’s inability to separate themselves from middle of the pack in the league. Losses to West Ham, Bolton and Fulham don’t exactly make you feel like a European contender. While Barcelona are on their way to another La Liga title, Arsenal’s domestic struggles continue with the only realistic goal being to finish in the top four and qualify for next year’s Champions League, a task that was considered more rudimentary than anything in the summer.

Henry’s signing did have great momentum; coming off a Champions League final appearance and finishing the league strong was enough to convince Henry that picking Arsenal over Barcelona was the correct decision. For Arsenal and Henry to be a snug fit, that belief needs to stick with the Frenchman for his remaining years in London.

After denying a drift with Wenger over omission from the Tottenham game due to injury, Henry quoted:

Regarding the recruitment in the summer, my confidence was not betrayed. I am at Arsenal for life. I will not go to Barcelona.

A Barcelona defeat or tie would reinforce the decision and eliminate any second thoughts. At least for now. Oh yeah, and the Gunners musn’t lose against FC Porto in Portugal.