Wenger: Gunners spoiled by Henry goals
Arsene Wenger backed Thierry Henry to deliver against Bayern Munich as he is the finished article – and claimed Arsenal are “spoilt” by his “exceptional” finishing.
Henry accepts the pressure is on him to deliver against Bayern, with a hat-trick against Portsmouth having still left some critics accusing him of being a ’flat-track bully’.
Against smaller clubs such as Portsmouth, so the sceptics say, Henry scores for fun. But when it really matters, such as in the first leg defeat in Munich, he goes missing in action, they argue.
The Frenchman nevertheless merely points to his career record, being on the verge of becoming the club’s all-time greatest scorer and with 35 European goals already behind him.
“I still see people talking about me, whether I’m scoring enough,” he declared.
“But look at the stats – not only have I scored 22 league goals this season but I’m on 14 assists, which isn’t bad for a striker.
“I let other people do their talking and I try to do my talking on the pitch. I know, once again, that if I don’t score on Wednesday, it will be [blamed on] me, so I’m preparing myself for that!”
Wenger is even more insistent, having seen Henry pull Portsmouth apart with the sixth hat-trick of an Arsenal career that has seen him score 177 times for the club, eight behind Ian Wright’s record.
“Thierry is always under big pressure as people get used to him scoring goals for fun, so when he doesn’t deliver, they ask what’s wrong,” observed the Arsenal boss.
“But you must always consider that what he does is exceptional and you get spoilt by what he does deliver.
“The Champions League level is more difficult but his record in that is very good as well. And who can deliver three goals in every Champions League game?”
Henry has managed that feat away to Roma, as well as scoring twice at Inter Milan, even if he was not at his best against Chelsea in either leg of last season’s quarter-final.
But he has still scored four times in seven Champions League ties this season and while the likes of Adriano are hailed as the next great talent, Wenger prefers to rely upon Henry’s proven class.
“Thierry is a world champion, European champion, English champion and French champion so he has produced. Adriano is a big prospect but you’ll only know how big in three or four years,” he said.
Against Portsmouth, Henry was certainly a class apart, settling Arsenal’s nerves six minutes before half-time by converting Lauren’s cross after Yakubu struck the bar and Pascal Cygan was injured.
Eight minutes after the break, he effectively sealed victory when he nonchalantly chipped the ball over keeper Kostas Chalkias from Patrick Vieira’s through-ball.
And he then completed his hat-trick in the final stages with a free-kick that Chalkias, who looked uncertain throughout, could not prevent from crossing the line.
Not that it was enough for everyone, although Wenger observed: “Any one of us could play against Portsmouth and never score three goals, so you still need some special qualities to do it.”
The Arsenal boss is still keen to reduce the pressure on Henry ahead of Wednesday’s game, with the Gunners needing a clean sheet unless they are to score at least three times.
“I wouldn’t like to put Thierry under too much pressure,” stressed Wenger, who will have Dennis Bergkamp, Edu and Jose Antonio Reyes back even if Cygan is ruled out.
“We need a great team display. What we do defensively is as important as what we do offensively.
"We know that we can score a goal or two, but a clean sheet would certainly be just as important.”
Portsmouth, meanwhile, were left to reflect on a season that is slipping away from them alarmingly, with rivals Southampton – in the final relegation spot - now just six points behind.
But assistant boss Joe Jordan maintained: “We’ve had two hard games at Old Trafford and Highbury, yet we’ve got matches left that we can win and we’ve got to show that we’re a Premier League club.
“We’re still looking at reaching 40 points, which would be 10 points from nine games, but we could need less.”
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