I do find it amazing that, on the back of three unspectacular performances, in some quarters the knives are out for Thierry Henry.

No sooner had the final whistle blown on Sunday than people were suggesting he bottles the big games, the captaincy has dealt him a hammer blow, or that he struts and sulks too much.

Have we got so bloated on his relentlessly awesome performances that we cannot now allow him a few less than perfect games?

Let’s put a few things into context here: Thierry Henry is three goals shy of beating Arsenal’s all-time goal-scoring record, a feat he will have achieved, when it happens, in a mere six years. He’s one of the world’s most sought-after strikers, able to terrorise defenders with his pace and guile, lay on as many as he scores, and net the most exquisite of goals.

In short, we’ve never had better. If you were to ask a fan of each and every Premier League club which player they’d take from our squad, his name would be top of the list every time.

As for Sunday, no, he didn’t have the best game ever, but playing as a lone striker is not easy, and as I said yesterday, we were up against a side that simply does not let goals in.

And perhaps it’s true that being so close to beating that record is weighing down on him a bit – it did with Ian Wright – but that’s hardly a crime.