No bust-up with Wenger, insists Henry
Arsenal captain Thierry Henry has denied reports of a bust-up with manager Arsene Wenger and admits he needs to give his body a rest.
Henry is out of today’s London derby against Tottenham with a neck problem and appeared to rule himself out of the trip to Chelsea next Sunday as well.
He was reported to have stormed out of the club’s London Colney training headquarters after Wenger declared he was not fit, despite the French star reportedly insisting he was ready to play.
Henry told Sky Sports News: “Going out there not 100% fit is not the way to help the team. We all decided I was going to take a bit of a rest and come back when I am fully fit.
“That is why I left the training ground upset. Unless you are psychic you cannot know what happened. I just came here to support the team.”
Henry told BBC Radio Five Live: "I have to rest. If that includes today and that includes Chelsea....I hope it is going to stop there.
“It might go further but I have been saying since the beginning of the season that I’m nowhere (near) fully fit and I came back into the team trying to help.
“No-one forced me not to play, it was just a discussion we had. I was upset about it because I do not like to not play.
“But you have to be honest and listen to your body. No-one knows what we said to each other and still people are speculating.”
Henry seemed utterly bemused by some of the reports and added on Sky Sports News: “People were saying I was already in France sulking or whatever.
“Sometimes it is a shame, but I just came here to support the team and bounce back from our recent result.
“What I need to do now is get fit and injury-free and then I will be out there and helping the team the best way I can.
“I came back from the World Cup a bit tired. I played a lot of games and emotionally losing two finals like that (the World Cup and Champions League) is not easy.
“My sciatic nerve is playing a bit with me, I’ve had that for two or three months.”
Henry defended his comments about the strength of Arsenal’s squad, having told The Sun that it was like “a lightweight going up against a heavyweight” when the Gunners faced one of the Premiership’s other big teams.
“We have tremendous young talents, at the moment what is letting us down is a lack of concentration,” he said.
“When you are young people forget you need experience, I wasn’t the same player when I was 23 or 24.
“But on the other side you have to let them grow and become men and that doesn’t happen just like that.
“Unfortunately we are paying the price but we are going to try to do the best we can with the team we have.”
