Henry blames ´too much running´ for lack of goals at Barca

3 December 2008 21:20

Barcelona´s French striker Thierry Henry, seen here in June 2008, accused by many fans of the Catalan club of not scoring enough goals, said on Wednesday that he did not have to do as much running when he was at former club Arsenal.

MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona's French striker Thierry Henry, accused by many fans of the Catalan club of not scoring enough goals, said on Wednesday that he did not have to do as much running when he was at former club Arsenal.

"I understand that people want to see me score the goals (that I scored at) Arsenal, but it's not the same here", he said during a press conference in Barcelona.

"When I was at Arsenal I didn't have to run like I run now," he added. "Sometimes you have to work for the team and not just for yourself."

"At Arsenal I would leave the centre to wait for the ball on the wing and keep myself fresh. Here it's the opposite. On the wing you have to make more effort to defend and maybe it means that I'm less sharp in the opposition penalty area."

Henry, who is typically deployed on the left flank in a 4-3-3 formation, has scored four goals in the league this season. Fellow winger Lionel Messi has nine and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o leads the La Liga scoring charts with 14.

Nonetheless, Henry declares himself "perfectly happy" at Barca and is delighted by the unity in the team this season compared to the last campaign, which ended trophyless for the club.

Barca, who have rediscovered their free-flowing football under new coach Pep Guardiola, currently lead La Liga by four points from Villarreal and have qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League.