MH
24,04,06, 13:18
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Thierry Henry believes that a clean sheet in last week's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Villarreal CF at Highbury may provide the platform to take the English club into the final of Europe's premier club competition for the first time.
Clean-sheet record
Arsène Wenger's side avoided conceding for the ninth European game in succession in last week's encounter between the sides and, although a disciplined and hard-working Villarreal performance meant Arsenal were unable to display their usual fluency in attack, Kolo Touré's close-range finish minutes before half-time nevertheless ensured they would travel to Spain for Tuesday's second leg with a narrow lead. Although obviously pleased to have eked out an advantage, Henry believes that denying Villarreal what would have been an invaluable away goal might be the decisive factor.
"With our attacking abilities, not letting them score is crucial and we can be cautiously optimistic" - Thierry Henry
Home strength
"If you don't concede a goal at home in Europe, I always think it is a good result," said the Arsenal captain. "With our attacking abilities, not letting them score is crucial and we can be cautiously optimistic for the second leg. At home in the Champions League 0-0 is not such a bad result but of course, it's even better if you can manage to win and luckily we managed to do that. I'm pleased with the first-leg result and I think we should be happy with it.
Damage limitation
Villarreal's cautious approach succeeded in preventing Arsenal adding to their advantage but meant the Spanish side were unable to muster a real goalscoring threat of their own, and Henry admitted he was surprised with the visitors' attitude. "We scored a crucial goal just before half-time and I thought they were going to have a go at us and try to play in the second half but it actually seemed that they were happy to lose 1-0," he said. "At their own ground, however, they will have to go forward; I thought they would do that at Highbury to try and score an away goal to make life easier for them at home but they stayed back."
"I'm not surprised how well the young players have done, I knew what they were capable of" - Thierry Henry
Full-backs fêted
Once again the French striker was keen to pay tribute to his side's young defence which, despite an average age of just 22 and with 25-year-old Touré its oldest member, has kept out Real Madrid CF and Juventus twice each in part of a 829-minute run without conceding. "This is a team achievement, everyone is chasing lost causes and defending really well," Henry pointed out. "But I'm not surprised how well the young players have done, I knew what they were capable of. Mathieu Flamini took two or three matches to settle in as left-back, he was short of a bit of confidence and the team wasn't doing particularly well, and the same is true of Emmanuel Eboué on the right. But they're young, they grew in confidence and they have no fear, they played in Madrid and Turin without any problems."
English experience
Those players are sure to face another stern examination at El Madrigal, although Henry believes the ground at least will seem like a home from home, saying: "Villarreal is like an English stadium, the pitch is quite compact, there’s lots of noise and atmosphere and we’re used to that in England, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. We’re not in the final yet, there’s still 90 minutes left in this tie, but we're not far away."
Thierry Henry believes that a clean sheet in last week's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Villarreal CF at Highbury may provide the platform to take the English club into the final of Europe's premier club competition for the first time.
Clean-sheet record
Arsène Wenger's side avoided conceding for the ninth European game in succession in last week's encounter between the sides and, although a disciplined and hard-working Villarreal performance meant Arsenal were unable to display their usual fluency in attack, Kolo Touré's close-range finish minutes before half-time nevertheless ensured they would travel to Spain for Tuesday's second leg with a narrow lead. Although obviously pleased to have eked out an advantage, Henry believes that denying Villarreal what would have been an invaluable away goal might be the decisive factor.
"With our attacking abilities, not letting them score is crucial and we can be cautiously optimistic" - Thierry Henry
Home strength
"If you don't concede a goal at home in Europe, I always think it is a good result," said the Arsenal captain. "With our attacking abilities, not letting them score is crucial and we can be cautiously optimistic for the second leg. At home in the Champions League 0-0 is not such a bad result but of course, it's even better if you can manage to win and luckily we managed to do that. I'm pleased with the first-leg result and I think we should be happy with it.
Damage limitation
Villarreal's cautious approach succeeded in preventing Arsenal adding to their advantage but meant the Spanish side were unable to muster a real goalscoring threat of their own, and Henry admitted he was surprised with the visitors' attitude. "We scored a crucial goal just before half-time and I thought they were going to have a go at us and try to play in the second half but it actually seemed that they were happy to lose 1-0," he said. "At their own ground, however, they will have to go forward; I thought they would do that at Highbury to try and score an away goal to make life easier for them at home but they stayed back."
"I'm not surprised how well the young players have done, I knew what they were capable of" - Thierry Henry
Full-backs fêted
Once again the French striker was keen to pay tribute to his side's young defence which, despite an average age of just 22 and with 25-year-old Touré its oldest member, has kept out Real Madrid CF and Juventus twice each in part of a 829-minute run without conceding. "This is a team achievement, everyone is chasing lost causes and defending really well," Henry pointed out. "But I'm not surprised how well the young players have done, I knew what they were capable of. Mathieu Flamini took two or three matches to settle in as left-back, he was short of a bit of confidence and the team wasn't doing particularly well, and the same is true of Emmanuel Eboué on the right. But they're young, they grew in confidence and they have no fear, they played in Madrid and Turin without any problems."
English experience
Those players are sure to face another stern examination at El Madrigal, although Henry believes the ground at least will seem like a home from home, saying: "Villarreal is like an English stadium, the pitch is quite compact, there’s lots of noise and atmosphere and we’re used to that in England, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. We’re not in the final yet, there’s still 90 minutes left in this tie, but we're not far away."