Wenger warns Henry to be humble

ARSENE WENGER declared that the rest of the Premiership are worried about Thierry Henry, but warned his Arsenal striker to remain humble in order to improve even further.

Wenger believes that Manchester United will be concerned by Henry's sparkling form when Arsenal visit Old Trafford next weekend.

After all, the French international took his tally to five goals in two games as he followed his superb Champions League hat-trick against Roma with a double-strike against Aston Villa.

''I think every team that plays against us is worried about him. He is physically extremely strong and recovers so well. You need a special strength to deliver that kind of performance,'' declared Wenger.

The Arsenal boss watched United take on Liverpool yesterday in a ''relaxed'' frame of mind, insisting that ''basically any result is good for us'' as it is the Gunners who still set the pace at the top of the table.

They certainly have the Premiership's most in-form striker, a man described by Patrick Vieira earlier this week as the best forward in the world.

Wenger is also effusive in his praise of Henry's talent, but insists that the 25-year-old can still improve his game, especially his heading. The Arsenal forward wasted a late chance at Highbury to complete another hat-trick only to be denied by Villa keeper Peter Enckelman.

Wenger maintained: ''I'm happy that he was there to take the chance as, before, he wasn't there.

''But that's certainly the main area where he can improve as he can jump to the sky if he wants. It's just a decision that he has to make - do I want to be strong heading the ball? Once he has made that decision, he will be it as he has the technique to do it. He's already frightening without it. With it, he will be even more so.''

Gerard Houllier recently told Steven Gerrard not to believe his own publicity amid concerns over his Liverpool midfielder.

Wenger has no such worries about Henry's character or form, believing he is close to realising his ambition to match the all-round ability and influence of the great Marco van Basten. However, the Arsenal boss clearly believes that the route to success is still the same.

''What is important for Thierry is to keep improving, to try to have the right attitude and to keep humble,'' declared Wenger. "He plays in a great team, he knows that and his partners fight for him as well. That helps him to improve. He has learned a lot from playing next to Dennis Bergkamp. He knows that and he will still improve. He's 25 years old.''

Henry certainly displayed the right kind of attitude in an interview given on the eve of the Villa game, with the plaudits from his Rome hat-trick still fresh in the mind.

''I am nothing without my team-mates. I cannot score a goal by myself. People ask me why I look down on the pitch sometimes and it's when I haven't helped my team,'' he told the Daily Telegraph.

''When I don't score, I feel upset for the midfielders and defenders. It was as if I hadn't turned up. I am only there to finish off the job of the team. You can't have the individual ahead of the collective. Never.''

Wise words indeed.

Then again, there was little chance of Henry looking down at Highbury as he not only curled home a superb free-kick to put Arsenal 2-0 up but also rounded off their 3-1 win with an impudent, chipped penalty.

''I've seen him do it like that in training for a joke. I had hoped he would take inside on the left of the keeper but he was confident enough to take it like that,'' said Wenger. ''When it goes in, you have no problem. When it doesn't go in, you have a big problem.''

In this form, however, anything is possible and United have due cause for concern when Arsenal return to the scene of their title-winning triumph last season.

''We can recover a little bit first and then concentrate on that game. We now have two big games coming up against United and Valencia, and I would say they are linked,'' concluded Wenger.