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We could have challenged - Henry
Arsenal skipper Thierry Henry is convinced the Gunners would have challenged for honours this season had all their strikers stayed fit.
Hampered by a run of niggling injuries following his return to action after the World Cup, Henry was able to produce only patches of his talent.
The 29-year-old was finally ruled out for the remainder of the campaign when he suffered a combination of stomach and groin problems following the Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven in March.
Arsenal, though, were forced not only to do without their inspirational skipper, but also leading scorer Robin van Persie, who had broken a metatarsal bone in his foot when equalising against Manchester United at Emirates Stadium in January.
What remained of Arsene Wenger's normally attack-minded squad relied too heavily on Togo hitman Emmanuel Adebayor, who was himself for a time unavailable through suspension following the controversial melee at the end of the Carling Cup final.
Henry firmly believes the Gunners paid a high price with the loss of such crucial players at a critical time of the campaign, which soon unravelled.
"Getting everybody injured in the same position does not help," he told Arsenal TV.
"No disrespect to the defenders, but you can always try to do something at the back - but to teach somebody to score some goals over a couple of weeks, it does not happen like that.
"That was difficult, even though Emmanuel Adebayor did a great job. It would have been better if we were all around, to try to alternate and keep even more pressure on teams.
"Manu comes out, I come on, or Robin, or I come out and he comes on, or whatever.
"Before we all went out injured, we were doing that and we were on a Hell of a run.
Henry continued: "It was unlucky. A lot of teams had to suffer that during the season, but especially here it is maybe not the same when you miss some key players.
"We have a young squad and we missed at the important time of the season key, experienced players.
"No disrespect to anybody else, but you cannot afford to miss them. For those guys to be around in the dressing room, to be around at training, you need everybody in. We did miss that.
"It is not an excuse at the end of the day, because even when we were missing some key players we still managed to have some great results.
"But the consistency was not there and you need to have everybody around to have that, to keep the every single player on their toes, to feel the pressure there is somebody who can take your position.
"That was not there, so that did not help during the season."
Given just what he had been through in dragging the Gunners to the 2006 Champions League final and then his World Cup exploits with runners-up France, it is perhaps no surprise the Premiership did not see the best of Henry this season.
The Frenchman accepts he "felt tired from the start" and that perhaps his injuries were inevitable.
"I am okay now, and trying to get back on track slowly, but surely," said Henry, who made 27 appearances and scored 12 goals.
"Hopefully I can come back fresher next season.
"It has been a difficult season for me in terms of injuries.
"It was the first time it had happened to me, and it was kind of awkward.
"I feel like the season did not start for me really, so hopefully I can have a proper one next season."
Henry added: "I kind of knew this season was going to be difficult because I felt tired from the start.
"I have never been really injured like that before.
"When you have something which lasts the whole season it is annoying.
"Before the Eindhoven game, I had not trained for two weeks.
"I just went out there to try to help the team.
"Maybe it was not something clever to do, I agree with that.
"But I have the feeling it was always going to happen, because I had never been right since the beginning of the season.
"My body was sending me signals that I did ignore and I was just not right."
Hampered by a run of niggling injuries following his return to action after the World Cup, Henry was able to produce only patches of his talent.
The 29-year-old was finally ruled out for the remainder of the campaign when he suffered a combination of stomach and groin problems following the Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven in March.
Arsenal, though, were forced not only to do without their inspirational skipper, but also leading scorer Robin van Persie, who had broken a metatarsal bone in his foot when equalising against Manchester United at Emirates Stadium in January.
What remained of Arsene Wenger's normally attack-minded squad relied too heavily on Togo hitman Emmanuel Adebayor, who was himself for a time unavailable through suspension following the controversial melee at the end of the Carling Cup final.
Henry firmly believes the Gunners paid a high price with the loss of such crucial players at a critical time of the campaign, which soon unravelled.
"Getting everybody injured in the same position does not help," he told Arsenal TV.
"No disrespect to the defenders, but you can always try to do something at the back - but to teach somebody to score some goals over a couple of weeks, it does not happen like that.
"That was difficult, even though Emmanuel Adebayor did a great job. It would have been better if we were all around, to try to alternate and keep even more pressure on teams.
"Manu comes out, I come on, or Robin, or I come out and he comes on, or whatever.
"Before we all went out injured, we were doing that and we were on a Hell of a run.
Henry continued: "It was unlucky. A lot of teams had to suffer that during the season, but especially here it is maybe not the same when you miss some key players.
"We have a young squad and we missed at the important time of the season key, experienced players.
"No disrespect to anybody else, but you cannot afford to miss them. For those guys to be around in the dressing room, to be around at training, you need everybody in. We did miss that.
"It is not an excuse at the end of the day, because even when we were missing some key players we still managed to have some great results.
"But the consistency was not there and you need to have everybody around to have that, to keep the every single player on their toes, to feel the pressure there is somebody who can take your position.
"That was not there, so that did not help during the season."
Given just what he had been through in dragging the Gunners to the 2006 Champions League final and then his World Cup exploits with runners-up France, it is perhaps no surprise the Premiership did not see the best of Henry this season.
The Frenchman accepts he "felt tired from the start" and that perhaps his injuries were inevitable.
"I am okay now, and trying to get back on track slowly, but surely," said Henry, who made 27 appearances and scored 12 goals.
"Hopefully I can come back fresher next season.
"It has been a difficult season for me in terms of injuries.
"It was the first time it had happened to me, and it was kind of awkward.
"I feel like the season did not start for me really, so hopefully I can have a proper one next season."
Henry added: "I kind of knew this season was going to be difficult because I felt tired from the start.
"I have never been really injured like that before.
"When you have something which lasts the whole season it is annoying.
"Before the Eindhoven game, I had not trained for two weeks.
"I just went out there to try to help the team.
"Maybe it was not something clever to do, I agree with that.
"But I have the feeling it was always going to happen, because I had never been right since the beginning of the season.
"My body was sending me signals that I did ignore and I was just not right."
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