Oct 31, 2007 - 7:36 AM
0 shoutsBARCELONA, Spain (Ticker) - Thierry Henry has defended his slow start in Spain by demanding his critics "stop looking for the player who was at Arsenal."
Henry was a hero with the Gunners during his time in London but has yet to find his top form since moving to the Nou Camp.
Henry has insisted soccer in the Primera Liga is different to the English game and does not want to be judged in comparison with his Premier League achievements.
"I am not at Arsenal anymore," Henry said in The Independent. "It's a different type of game and most of the time here I play with my back to the net, but I have four goals and three assists.
"It's not just about me - I look at how I can help the team. Stop looking for the player who was at Arsenal."
Henry cited several differences between the Spanish and English which he is adjusting to.
"The game is much quicker in England and there are other differences," Henry said. "Whenever you touch somebody here it is a foul. I never thought it would be easy to play for Barcelona, but it took me nine games to score my first goal in England.
"I play in the way you saw at Arsenal, a more direct way. Here, we pass the ball more from right to left and the approach is different. I have to adapt to that. At Arsenal, when we counter-attacked, the ball came to me straight away."
Henry, 30, was thrust into a central role in Frank Rijkaard's side almost as soon as he arrived and he concedes he would have preferred to acclimatize slowly.
"It would have been better to go into the team step by step, but then Samuel Eto'o got injured and other players were not ready after the Copa America," Henry said. "I had to come back to fitness and play at the same time. I don't have any excuses though, I just have to get on with it."
