Thierry Henry says his best is yet to come.


FC Barcelona star man, Thierry Henry has spoken out on his form and fitness, predicting his eventual return to full form will be complete in about two months time, by which time his muscular therapy and healing would have been complete. The French man sustained an injury while at Arsenal FC, an injury which has been prolonged and lasted for longer than expected, keeping the goal merchant out of the merchandise in goal scoring, a trade Henry is well familiar with and an expert by world class standard. On his current form, Henry says:

I still feel like I am playing on just one leg. I need to work to build the muscles on my left. I am lucky to have full support from the Barcelona staff, which is fantastic. I had not played for six months, so before coming back usually you need two months of hard work. I joined up with the Barcelona side immediately, and I had not played previously since March. So I believe it will take two months for me to get back to my best, I think this is a reasonable amount of time.

Speaking about his position and the effect its having on his game, the former Arsenal striker, who started out on the left wing when he first arrived North London, but was converted to a central striker by Arsenal's coach Arsene Wenger says:

I am playing as a left winger, sometimes in the centre and sometimes on the right. I am having to adapt. After eight years in the centre it is not always easy. But at first I will try to regain my comfort on the pitch.

Perhaps Henry's first official goal for Barca against Lyon in the Champions League is a first sign that the adaptation is progressing well.

Rijkaard revels in Champions League victory as coach appreciates support from fans.


Speaking in his post-match comments after the 3-0 defeat of Olympique Lyon at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard has expressed happiness over the turn of events for the Catalan giants and the outstanding performance by his team of super stars. The Dutchman, who had earlier appealed for patience, understanding and support from Barca fans and friends alike, also went ahead before the match, to ban further references to the past errors committed by the Blaugrana, which has led to some not so impressive results and outcomes. Frank Rijkaard hoped to use the Champions League against Lyon to usher in a new era of positivity and winning at FC Barcelona. Visibly glad, Rijkaard said:

This is a fine night for us. We scored three goals, we reached our objective, the team played well and the fans supported us. We're happy with the result but we have to continue working. I have to congratulate my players. All three goals made me happy and the second goal was important to guarantee the win. The team played well with the crowd behind them and that's what we need at the moment in the league and Champions League. Football is about team work so I congratulate everyone.

Explaining the substitution of Ronaldinho with Andres Iniesta in the second half, Frank Rijkaard was understanding of the Brazilian striker's desire to remain on the pitch, but was also mindful of securing the entire team, believing that many more matches lay ahead for all the players to enjoy:

A sportsman always wants to play so it was normal for Ronaldinho to be a bit upset at being substituted but he played well. He's an important player for us and there are plenty of matches ahead. I like seeing things positively so despite some supporters booing him, most of them applauded him and that's what I value.

The Barca coach has some nice words of praise for his French opponents, assessing Lyon as a great team but also admitting Barca's superiority:

Lyon are great opponents but we played maturely. They're a quality team and the difference between a goal and a chance is huge so I'm glad we didn't concede any tonight.

Rijkaard was clearly happy after each goal was scored, as the Dutchman impulsively jumped from his seat after the very first goal when Messi's cutting dribble and low cross ended up in the Lyonnaise net in the 21st minute.

Barca will now play FC Sevilla on Saturday in the week four La Liga encounter. Sevilla went down with the same 3-0 score margin against Arsenal FC in London, England.

Catalan prayers still effective as ex-Barca youth star Fabregas steers Arsenal without stopping.


After spending time in the Catalan country-side during the summer break where Fabregas received special blessings from the Catalan kids, youths and parents to go ahead and bring the English Premiership trophy to North London to the Gunners and to Catalonia, his origin, the brilliant Arsenal FC star player Cesc Fabregas has not disappointed so far. Producing and re-producing spectacular form since the first day of the Premiership, Fabregas has continued to remain heads and shoulders above others, powering his team Arsenal to the top of the English Premiership on Saturday and capping it up with yet another magnificent goal, this time, a stunning 80th minute super-strike from a canon bent into the far corner of the net from 30 yards. His victim was England's national team goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who was in goal for home team Tottenham Hotspurs.


Two more goals came from Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor, the West African striker of Nigerian origin, who plays for the Republic of Togo. The three goals cancelled out the home team's lone strike in the 15th minute from Gareth Bale, which put Spurs ahead in the first-half of the encounter.


With this win, Arsenal now lead the English Premiership table with 13 points from 5 games ahead of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea FC in that order, who all have 11 points each but seperated on superior goal difference.


Other than winning the English Premiership title, Cesc Fabregas was also mandated by Catalonia to win the Footballer of The Year Award in England this season.

The unacceptable delay to release French striker Thierry Henry to FC Barcelona has sparked off a row.


Thierry Henry was suspended for France's last game against Scotland, but still had to stay back with the French team inspite of the fact that he wasn't playing or had any potentials of playing. This hold onto the Barca striker was the decision of the national coach of the Les Blues, Raymond Domenech, who had asked the French Football Federation ( FFF ) to instruct Henry not to leave camp unless the rest of his team mates also left, so that everyone could leave together. This decision however did not go down well with Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta. In reaction to the sit-tight order by the FFF, Laporta threatened to withdraw players from international engagements if such treatment was to be metted out to clubs. The president explained that it was enough to deny clubs the regular use of their players, but was unacceptable to tie down such players even when they were not playing for their country.


However, reports from pro-Real Madrid paper Marca claim that the the French coach, Raymond Domenech has denied asking the FFF to pin down Thierry Henry, claiming that neither he nor the football authorities had anything to do with it. This comes on the heels of FC Barcelona's next match in the La Liga against Osasuna on Sunday.

Laporta is eager to shield Eto'o from early exposure.


FC Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta has sympathised with star striker Samuel Eto'o over the Cameroonian's injury that will sideline the fast forward till November. Laporta spoke with Eto'o and discussed issues concerning his future as well as other matters. Speaking after the meeting, Laporta said that Barca will be very strict in protecting their West African star, starting with ensuring he is given a leave from the Cameroonian national team who plan to make Eto'o their star attraction in the forthcoming African Nations Cup in January, a feat that will see Eto'o missing from FC Barcelona for almost two additional months, while putting further stress on his injury. Laporta said:

I am sorry that he has got injured so early in the season. He was keen to achieve big things, and I hope he gets fit as soon as possible. Once he has gotten over his injury he should first play for FC Barcelona rather than with other teams.

Samuel Eto'o strained his thigh against Inter MIlan in the Joan Gamper Trophy match and has recently undergone surgery to heal the injury. The productive Barca star was in the heat of transfer talks during the summer, with clubs like Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC and Manchester United with all of England eager to sign him, while AC Milan and Inter Milan attacked from the Italian angle. Since fending off all such interests, FC Barcelona have been very sensitive about Eto'o-related cases for both club and country.