Vieira backs Henry for Golden Boot

ARSENAL captain Patrick Vieira last night described Thierry Henry as the best striker in the world as he insisted his team-mate was the leading contender to become European footballer of the year.

Henry took his Arsenal tally in Europe to an impressive 25 goals in 44 appearances with his hat-trick against Roma on Wednesday night.

With six goals in the competition so far, he lies level with Ruud van Nistelrooy and behind only Hernan Crespo, who leads the way on nine goals, as well as Roy Makaay and Filippo Inzaghi on eight each.

Henry, who revealed he was happier than ever before in his career, is also one of the favourites to succeed Michael Owen as the holder of the prestigious Ballon d’Or next month.

Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and Rivaldo, as well as Oliver Kahn, Raul and Vieira are other possible contenders, as well as van Nistelrooy, whom Alex Ferguson believes to be the world’s leading striker, Crespo, Inzaghi or Alessandro del Piero.

But while Henry may not have tasted any success with France at the World Cup, he was a pivotal figure in Arsenal’s double campaign and has underpinned his team’s progress at home and abroad this season as well.

Indeed, he has scored a total of 26 goals for club and country since the start of the year.

Vieira declared: “To be honest with you, I think Thierry is the best striker in the world because he can score the goals that make a difference.

‘‘Even if he’s not having a good day, he can give a pass or can still help us. I think by far he’s one of the best at the moment and he’s a strong character.

‘‘The only way he isn’t going to win the European footballer of the year, maybe, is that France didn’t do really well at the World Cup. But if you base it on what he has done with his club then he should win it.’’

Henry was also sent off in the World Cup, but Owen’s achievement was based as much on his form for club as country in beating Raul, Kahn, David Beckham, Francesco Totti and Luis Figo in the 2001 poll by France Football magazine.

While Ferguson sings van Nistelrooy’s praises and Crespo provides Inter Milan with life after Ronaldo, Arsene Wenger insists he would not swap 25-year-old Henry for any striker.

Henry admitted it was a prestigious award but insisted he was far more concerned about chasing honours with Arsenal and France: ‘‘In a personal way, it’s always nice to have that. But I don’t really look at that for myself when I play for Arsenal or France. I just want to play and do well.’’

His influence on Arsenal was never more apparent than in the Olympic Stadium as he turned four chances - two of them just half-chances - into the club’s first Champions League hat-trick.

The key is that he is now enjoying his football, certainly far more than he ever did during his unhappy spell at Juventus.

‘‘I’m happier than ever about the way I feel at the moment. You can see that on the pitch,’’ he said.

‘‘Obviously I had a bad spell recently and wasn’t scoring a lot. But I was still helping the team to score goals and that’s one of the things about me.

‘‘I said after the game against Auxerre at home that I was a bit tired and couldn’t perform. I am only a human being and you always go through some periods when you can’t deliver. But now that I have my legs back, I can run. It’s as simple as that.’’

Henry admitted that Arsenal needed such a convincing victory, especially with the character shown to recover from going 1-0 down in four minutes, even if they required more than a dose of good fortune: ‘‘I don’t know about what the rest of Europe will think but it’s a massive lift for us as we’ve been looking for that kind of victory for a while. It’s not only the way we played but the mentality we had.’’

‘‘We came back and that shows great attitude from the whole team. We must show that all the way through and be consistent.’’

With Valencia drawing at home to Ajax, Arsenal lead Group B and victories in their next two games, both at home, against those two other rivals, would effectively seal their quarter-final place. However, Henry insisted: ‘‘Obviously we can get better and better but we have to keep our feet on the ground to do that and keep on working hard.”

Spurs manager Glenn Hoddle believes English football is blessed with three of the best strikers in the world in Michael Owen, Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Liverpool star Owen, Arsenal’s Henry, and Manchester United sensation van Nistelrooy have been setting Europe alight this season with their goalscoring exploits, and Spurs boss Hoddle rates them as the best: ‘‘Those three are the best in the world. Spain have got some great strikers but we are blessed with Owen, Henry and van Nistelrooy who have all got fantastic ability. Those players can be the difference between their teams winning or getting a draw. My Tottenham team experienced it at Anfield when Owen was Liverpool’s matchwinner late on, while we witnessed it in Europe this week when van Nistelrooy turned around United’s game on his own and Henry stole the show for Arsenal.

‘‘At the moment they are firing on all cylinders and it is good for the Premiership to have those players setting the standard for the rest of Europe.’’