30.10.2007 16:19
"I am the Henry of Barça, not the Henry of Arsenal"
Marc Guillén
Thierry Henry has told a press conference that he is gradually getting fitter, although his adaptation to his new club is proving long and difficult. He knows he has to adapt to the team and not the other way round.
Speaking to a packed conference, French striker Thierry Henry has spoken for more than half an hour
about how he is settling in at FC Barcelona. Henry has said that we have seen the last of the
“Henry of Arsenal”, as he is now playing for a different team and in a different
system.
Recovery from injuries
“I am feeling fitter every day. We have played a lot of
games in very few days but I am feeling much fitter. I have had a bit of bother with my Achilles
heel in the last three games but I wanted to help the team. In the last few minutes of games I have
been missing a bit of luck with my dribbling and speed, but I am feeling better all the time”
he said. He added that he won’t know if he will be travelling to Valladolid until after
tomorrow’s training session.
Henry’s arrival at Barça coincided with the final weeks of his recovery from a long
term injury, and that leads him to believe that “It might have been better if I had been
introduced to the team more gradually, given the injury and the later inclusion of some players, it
meant I was still recovering from injury as I was playing games.”
Always hard to adapt
Henry doesn’t like comparisons being made between his current form and the kind of
things he used to do at Arsenal. “The Henry of Arsenal was at Arsenal, now I am at Barça and
the Henry of Arsenal will never be seen again. Barça is a different team, which plays a very
different way and I also have to play a different way. Now I am the Henry of Barça. Perhaps I
haven’t played as well as I have done but I have scored four goals and three assists. I try
to help the team. Maybe I didn’t do that in Glasgow or Villarreal, but I always try to play
my part in the team.”
Settling in
Henry may have struggled to adapt, but has few doubts that he
can deliver the goods as long as people are patient with him. “They play a different way here
to the way they do at Arsenal. Their game was more direct and balls got to me quickly. But I have
to adapt to the club and team, not the team to me, and that takes time. Barça have played this way
for years, it’s their trademark and it is me who needs to adapt”, he reasoned. He also
pointed out that when he arrived in England he didn’t score in his first nine games and then
went another month without scoring after that.
Ronaldinho offers hope
Henry also spoke about one of the hottest topics of debate at the club right now, Ronaldinho.
“Ronaldinho has played at the highest level for some time but he is not a robot. I
don’t think he’s playing as badly as they are saying, the problems is people expect so
much of him… Whenever there is a drop in Ronaldinho’s form, people make a huge fuss,
but that is a problem due to the huge expectations they make of him. Whatever happens, Ronnie is a
very important member of the team and attracts the attention of defenders. He makes our game
easier.”