Henry - not ready yetThierry Henry knows there is plenty more to come from both him and Arsenal this season.
The Gunners secured a place in this afternoon's draw for the group stages of the Champions League with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Dinamo Zagreb.
Although the final scoreline was a convincing one with much of the hard work done in Croatia a fortnight ago after a 3-0 first-leg win, it was a laboured performance by Arsene Wenger's side at the Emirates Stadium.
With the likes of Henry and Gilberto rested to the bench, Arsenal were slow out of the blocks and soon trailed to an instinctive finish from Eduardo.
Dinamo could have caused more than a few sweaty palms had they converted numerous other chances, before in the end Arsenal's technical superiority showed through with Freddie Ljungberg equalising and Mathieu Flamini then tapping in a stoppage-time winner.
It was not until Henry's introduction just after the hour though that the Gunners began to step up the pressure.
However, the brilliant forward, so often his club's saviour, admits after such a hectic summer he does need time to get back to firing on all cylinders.
"The body is not quite ready yet," Henry said.
"I would love it to be tomorrow - but I have to take it slowly and if I can go out there and help the team, I will."
The Arsenal captain noted: "It is not that easy when you have only had 10 or 12 days of work and you go into the championship.
"To play for France and then against Dinamo was not easy, so we decided with the boss that I was only going to play 25 or 30 minutes."
Henry, 29, added: "I hope it (full fitness) can be as quickly as possible.
"Normally when you come back in pre-season you have played the likes of Barnet - and I struggle sometimes, even when playing Barnet.
"You have to prepare yourself for competitive games, and usually it takes a month or a month and a half to get going.
"I know it is important to be out there and to try to help the team.
"I try to give the best I can and obviously when I am fully fit and ready, I can give more."
Henry firmly believes the experiences of last season's fantastic European campaign will stand Wenger's emerging side in good stead as they look to reach the final of the Champions League again.
He said: "Usually the team who goes far in the Champions League, then the year after or for two years after, they come back again.
"But you never know what can happen, because last season (2005 defending champions) Liverpool lost against Benfica."
Henry declared: "We know we have to play better, obviously, and to play as a team.
"A lot of people are not fully fit. A lot of teams who had players in the World Cup are struggling at the beginning of the season.
"They are not playing that well and that is the way it is.
"But on the other side, we can look at what we did last year and use it in the Champions League this season."
Theo Walcott came off the Arsenal bench for the second match running.
The 17-year-old's direct play and injection of pace helped turned a draw into victory, his low cross setting up Flamini in injury time.
Henry has certainly been impressed by the youngster's contribution.
He said: "Theo has had the chance to show what he can do and is showing it.
"Sometimes we had a pretty good understanding and we were playing well together.
"We can keep up together because he is quick and I am quite quick. If he goes, I can keep up with him and if I go, he can keep up with me."
The Arsenal captain added: "I am happy for him because he has got a lot of stick and people have not seen him play yet.
"Once again he came on and got an assist - that is what the game is about.
"You can do whatever you want, but at the end of the season people look at how many assists and goals you score."
Arsenal return to domestic action at Manchester City on Saturday evening.
Chelsea's shock defeat at Middlesbrough on Wednesday will have given all the Barclays Premiership title hopefuls a lift.
Henry declared: "Everyone can look at that result and say, 'we can have a go'.
"It was a bit difficult to concentrate on the league because we had something at stake.
"The most important thing for us was to qualify for the Champions League and now we can see what we can do at Man City."
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