Wenger: 'Henry will be footballer of the year'

Last updated : 09 March 2003 By Chris Parry
Following the players' sublime piece of skill which resulted in the second goal against Chelsea, he had this to say:

"There's a long way to go until the footballer of the year award is announced. Normally, you reward people who win things and we haven't won anything yet, but if we win things, as I think we will, Thierry will certainly be footballer of the year.

"His goal against Chelsea was fantastic, but I've seen some great goals from him. He's a fantastic player, the best scorer and the best passer in the league. He has the most assists in the league. You have billions of different situations in football but the great players adapt and give the right answer in each case."

Henry limped off the field during the second half with a calf injury, but Wenger is still reasonably confident that he will recover in time to play some sort of a part against Roma on Tuesday:

"It's always difficult to leave players like him out as they could win the game for you. Physically, he's so strong and lives a very clean life so usually he recovers very quickly. But at some stage, I will have to give him a breather."