"Disrespectful", some say. Well, perhaps in a sense. Perhaps the players wouldn't have done it if we'd been playing Chelsea or Man Utd, who knows? But personally I like to see a bit of lack of respect for the opponent now and then. When things are going swimmingly it underlines Arsenal's superiority and provides a bit of extra entertainment. "Same old Arsenal, taking the piss", we sing in the Clock End at these times, and we revel in it. You can't have it both ways: if you want the players to try the outrageous from time to time then you have to accept that from time to time it won't work.

Of course, the difference between, say, a gratuitous nutmeg (or even a nutmegged backheeled goal) and a screwed-up penalty is that the latter squanders what should be a certain goal (not that penalties have been certain goals for us of late). So I'm hoping that we won't try it again unless the win is secure, but I'm hoping that we will try it again.

Johann Cruyff, famous for scoring in the way Bobby and Thierry attempted, makes an interesting point about "disrespect". In applauding the attempt as innovative (especially after the media had been criticising the Premiership for becoming boring) he says that, "It is disrespectful at 6-0 or 7-0 but to do it at 1-0, it is just another way to take a penalty." Stuart Pearce seems to agree, and rather than calling it disrespectful he's simply called it a "legitimate ploy" and "new and innovative". Rather than criticise Arsenal he chooses to applaud his defenders, 2 of whom followed Henry in to defend the move, which may well have had a key role in making the ref mistakenly think that Pires had touched the ball twice and hence blowing for a City free-kick rather than a penalty re-take (apparently the ball only has to move forward to be in play, rather than by a full circumference, but as far as I'm concerned it didn't even do that). Fair play to Pearce, it's reassuring to see that he's not been infected by the attitude of some of his whiney players... especially the French pair Distin & Sommeil who amongst their moaning claimed that "During an important match, they would not have done it", raising the question of what exactly they thought was "unimportant" about this match (sounds like a lack of self-respect to me!)

So anyway I'm pleased to hear that Thierry Henry has said that he does plan to try it again, "...but next time I will push the ball off the penalty spot for someone else. The main problem will be finding someone to do it with me - especially after Saturday." Good point. According to the Mirror (although apparently contradicted by Pires), it was mainly Dennis Bergkamp that had been practising the move with Thierry in training, and he refused to co-operate at only 1-0 up against an in-form City side. Having said that, if Henry's taking the penalty then to a certain extent it's up to him, and if he tells a team-mate that he's going to pass the penalty to them and they then don't make the run, he'll be right to pass the buck to them.

Henry has revealed that he's been wanting to try something unusual from a penalty for years, but "I have never found anyone who had the guts to do it with me", he says, before cheekily contradicting himself with a poke at Pires, "It is nothing to do with being brave, it's about getting it right".

Like Henry, Robert Pires has apologised for Saturday (to Arsene Wenger and the fans for missing it, mind, not to Man City for trying it). Bobby says he "had moment of total panic. My mind went blank" (prompting The Sun's puntastic "I pen-icked" headline). Cruyff suggested that the mistake Arsenal made was in getting Pires to take... "The guy who comes up with the idea must be the one who takes the risk of making the pass", which makes sense given the "flood of doubts" that affected Bobby at the crucial moment.

Pires was happy to do a bit of buck-passing himself when he made it clear that it was all Henry's idea (anyone else notice the little chat Henry had with Pires immediately before the latter took the first penalty on Saturday? I can't help wondering if they/he were even considering it at nil-nil!). And Henry was happy to accept that responsibility (for the idea if not the mis-execution). In the light of this some Arsenal fans were outraged by Henry's then giggling when talking about the incident in post-match interviews. I say, hold the outrage. Surely to see the funny side of things that have a funny side is only human. Of course they see the serious side as well but don't we want them to enjoy playing for Arsenal... especially the man who's taken over from Ian Wright (if anyone has ever played the game with more infectious enthusiasm then I've not seen him, although Henry comes as close as anyone). Yes, it could have cost us points, but if it had then I think it's fair to assume that Henry would not have been giggling abou tit afterwards, don't you? Bobby spoke to CanalPlus about it on Sunday and also emphasized this aspect, "We put some humour into soccer, it's not that bad."

Fair play to Jose Mourinho, by the way, for adding his own bit of humour to the inquest: "You know why they took the penalty like that? They have so many penalties in a season, they had to do something different." Total rubbish, and he knows it, but that's not the point.

At the end of the day, Arsenal provided a talking (laughing) point for everyone in what was otherwise a pretty drab game. So we missed a penalty. We've missed penalties before. They are not, in fact, 100% guaranteed goals. Was Bobby's error really that much worse than taking a conventional penalty that misses the goal altogether? I can't see it. At the end of the day, we won the game. As Bobby says, "...it makes us laugh now. Especially because we won". Any Gooners s still fuming about the incident (and believe me, from my email I know there are those whose heads are still in danger of immiment explosion), please let yourselves have a little giggle. You'll feel better, I promise.

Even if Henry never tries it again, let's be glad that he says he will. Because if nothing else, it'll give opposition goalkeepers something extra to think about when they see Henry put the ball on the spot. Thierry says he won't try it if we're awarded a penalty against Tottenham at the weekend but, Paul Robinson, can you be sure?