It has become a summer ritual - the departure of another member of the Arsenal side that went undefeated while winning the Premiership title in 2004.  Since the summer of that year Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Robert Pires, Lauren, Edu, Ray Parlour, Sylvain Wiltord and Patrick Vieira have all left for new pastures while Dennis Bergkamp chose the end of the 2006 season as the time to retire. And now, the man who over the last eight seasons has been the brightest of all the Arsenal stars, has also left the club.

With Thierry Henry leaving Arsenal to join Barcelona only four players (Lehmann, Toure, Gilberto Silva and Ljungberg) remain from the accepted starting eleven from thirty-six months ago. Reaction from Arsenal fans to the latest departure will be interesting to say the least with initial indications being a clear polarization of views.

One group seeing Henry’s departure for $33M as being a piece of good business for a soon-to-be 30-year-old with a sciatic nerve problem that is likely to be a constant problem; the other group viewing it as the loss of another iconic player without an adequate replacement on the horizon.

Views on the subject are perhaps dependant on three key questions.
1. Should Wenger have tied harder to keep the 2004 team together and if so would Arsenal have collected more trophies by doing so?

Looking back on it the signs were there that rather than being the team to beat, the Arsenal team of 2004 was in fact at its peak and was heading down rather than going onto to dominate the Premiership and Europe. Roman Abramovich had already bought Chelsea and with Claudio Ranieri in charge Chelsea knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage in 2004. Manchester United put Arsenal out of the FA Cup around the same time.

Wenger did in fact maintain the core team (Edu, Wiltord and Parlour had only started 37 games in total the previous season all left Highbury after the 2004 season) for the 2005 season. The FA Cup was won and Arsenal finished second to Chelsea in the Premiership. But, was at that point that Arsene Wenger decided his team needed to be rebuilt. All the evidence points to the fact that just one season after going a complete league season unbeaten Arsenal was in decline.

2. How do the replacements stack-up against the 2004 squad in the short and long-term?

Although Cesc Fabregas was on the Arsenal squad the year before Patrick Vieira’s move to Juventus it is fair to consider Fabregas as the Frenchman’s replacement. The same would be true for Clichy and Ashley Cole. The others would be Van Persie, Adebayor, Hleb, Rosicky, Gallas and Eboue.

In the short term only Emmanuel Eboue has slipped seamlessly into the Arsenal first eleven while replacing Lauren. Clichy is almost a clone of Cole and in another season or two he may match the now-Chelsea full back.

Van Persie has shown hints that he has what it takes to become one of the world’s best strikers but last season he started less than half the Premiership games last season through injury. 

Adebayor is no Dennis Bergkamp and was never intended to be. In fact Wenger wisely chose not to look for a direct replacement for the iconic-Dutchman and instead opted for a different look up front. Adebayor has proven extremely effective at providing Arsenal with a long-ball option but it is doubtful that Togo striker will be ever be a consistent starter at a top class club.

The jury is still very much out on Alexander Hleb although Rosicky made a promising start to his Arsenal career last season. In defence William Gallas was another who missed a good chunk of last season through injury. Even then a good number of his games at the start of the season were at left back.

When he played in his favoured position at centre back the Arsenal defence often looked less than convincing when high ball were played into the box. Gallas maybe one of the world’s best defenders but the partnership with Toure may not be the best answer for Arsenal.

Finally back to Fabregas. An incredible talent that Wenger has decided to rebuild is midfield and team around. But he is still very much a work-in-progress. (Fabregas could have been playing at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup this summer). At this stage in his development Fabregas can’t carry the kind of load that Vieira could but in the long term the youngster could become one of the world’s great players.

3. Does Wenger dip into transfer kitty to replace Henry and if so who does he sign?

Wenger has no option but to sign a new striker or probably two. With Van Persie and Adebayor the only front line strikers Arsenal is badly exposed at this point. The young Mexican striker Carlos Vela is only 19 and it is unlikely that he will arrive at the Emirates until sometime next year – probably the summer. So who will Wenger go after?

If you were to create an identikit of Henry’s replacement it might look something like this. Under 26 years-old with his best days ahead, international experience, comfortable on the ball, good in the air and with the potential of 20-30 goals per season. A player like that is going to cost a few bucks but with $33m from the sale of Henry plus whatever other money is in the kitty already, Arsenal should be able to afford the asking price.

First off who does this exclude? Michael Owen for starters, as well as Miroslav Klose and Nicolas Anelka – although I admit that the return on Anelka might be intriguing it may also be a bit masochistic as far as the Arsenal brass is concerned. David Trezeguet also fails the identity parade.  

Adriano might be available but who knows where his head is at. David Villa of Valencia apparently wants to stay in Spain although with Barcelona now top heavy in strikers the Nou Camp appears to be out. Ryan Babel (Ajax) is a name that has been linked with Arsenal in the past although he has yet to show that he is capable of scoring goals at a rate that Arsenal would expect.

The one player that seems to tick all the boxes is Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres. To land Torres Arsenal may have to outbid Liverpool but they may have a potential ace up their sleeve. Arsenal still own Jose Antonio Reyes and he might be dangled in front of Atletico in order to seal the deal.

Toronto FC made in four wins in seven home games this season when they walloped FC Dallas 4-0. In a game of contrasting styles it was Toronto’s pressing and more direct play that triumphed over a Dallas side that looked to build slowly while maintaining possession.

In the early going Dallas had the better of the play but they were left to rue a couple of early missed chances when Toronto took control of the game half way through the first half.

The first goal came after excellent work from Kevin Goldthwaite on the left side as he crossed for Danny Dichio. Dichio’s two efforts were saved by Dario Sala before Edu stuck the loose ball away as it bobbled around in the six yard box.

Three minutes later a free kick swung into the penalty area by Carl Robinson from the right side led to a second Toronto goal. Dichio simply out-muscled the FC Dallas defense to head home.  

Dichio failed to appear for the second half after injuring his ankle while FC Dallas brought on Ruiz and Nunez for McCarty and Thompson. While Dallas enjoyed most of the possession in the second half they failed to create many clear cut chances.

A Carl Robinson header from a wonderfully flighted Kevin Goldthwaite cross after twenty minutes of the second half put Toronto up by three goals and the game beyond doubt. The speedy Jeff Cunningham could have had a second half hat trick but each time his hesitation and indecision when granted lots of time proved costly.

As it was Cunningham did get on the score sheet when he headed home in injury time. Proof, if any is needed, that Cunningham prospers when he acts instinctively.

With all four goals coming from crosses, three of them leading to headed goals, Coach Steve Morrow – himself a former centre back – was be left in no doubt as to where the FC Dallas weakness lay.

As for Toronto they now face six games away from the friendly confines of BMO Field and do not return there for MLS action until July 29 and a date with the Chicago Fire.

Scouting notes
Toronto FC has had Trinidad and Tobago forward Collin Samuel on trial this past week. While with Falkirk, Samuel was linked with a move to Everton of the Barclay’s Premiership. However, his form dipped and he was transfered to Dundee United (coincidentally a former team of Ronnie O'Brien). Ian McCall who had signed Samuel for Falkirk was the man responsible for taking him to Tannadice.

However, McCall was subsequently sacked. When Samuel’s contract was up for renewal at the end of this past season United offered him a less lucrative deal and Samuel opted to become a free-agent. A life-long Dundee United fan described Collin Samuel to me as an enigma (in Scotland that describes someone who once played well and everyone is waiting for it to happen again!) who on his day can be a world beater but who is wildly inconsistent.

Great speed but Samuel can suffer through stretches of games when he is completely anonymous. With Toronto FC due to lose players to the Canadian Under-20 side we will find out this week whether or not Coach Maurice Johnston offers Samuel a contract.