FCBARCELONA.CAT

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.”