Henry's dream is to do the Wright thing

Alan Smith: it was May 1994 and George Graham's traditional Arsenal were spearheaded by England's notion of a traditional centre forward. Smith did it well. Against a Parma side featuring the then relatively youthful talent of Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla, Smith scored the only goal of a wonderful Arsenal Copenhagen night. One-nil to the Arsenal, as they said.

Thierry Henry: it is May 2000 and Arsene Wenger's continental Arsenal are spear-headed by England's notion of a traditional right winger. Slim, skilful and quick, Henry does it well. Except that he does it in the middle. Arsenal's times are changing. From Alan Smith to Thierry Henry feels a lot longer than six years.

Such is the intensity of football today, six months can seem like a distant era, never mind six years. For Henry it must definitely feel like his life and career has undergone a major transformation from six months ago. Back at the start of November, 12 appearances on from his u10 million Stg£10 million move from Juventus, Henry was struggling to justify his existence with a solitary goal, albeit a beauty at Southampton.

Illustrating Henry's less than splendid isolation as he laboured as Nicolas Anelka's replacement, the goal at The Dell was scored only after the 22-year-old came off the bench. However, since then Henry has racked up another 26 goals, making him the most prolific striker operating in Europe since the start of the new year. He is a Millennial man, but of greater surprise, he is Millennial striker. But he is not Alan Smith.

Wenger can take credit for this. "At first I was worried about playing there because I had been playing wide for so long," Henry said of becoming one of Smith's successors. "But Arsene Wenger has coached strikers like George Weah and Jurgen Klinsmann, so I realised he knew what he was talking about. As a player you are not always in the best position to judge your capabilities, so I was prepared to take up the challenge.

"Now I never want to go back to the wing. I've got the habit back of playing in front of goal and being in the heart of the action. As a winger I spent a lot of time moving up and down the wing. After tracking back sometimes I was too tired to run at defenders effectively. Now I'm able to store energy and call for the ball more, to go one-on-one with the defender. That's my strength."

Juventus did not see this, apparently. Six months after playing in six of France's seven World Cup matches (but not the final) Henry moved from Monaco to Juve for u8 Stg£8 million. He played just 17 times and said the experience left him "inhibited". He said he wanted to go and hide on a desert island after the France '98 so drained was he. By the time he arrived at Arsenal, the former young player of the year in France had stalled, as so many do.

Wenger, who coached the teenage Henry briefly at Monaco, has restarted the ignition. Martin Keown has also played his part. When Henry was unavailable for Lee Dixon's testimonial against Real Madrid last autumn, Ian Wright played in Henry's place. Keown told Henry to look and learn. Henry like what he saw so much he went out and bought an Ian Wright video. Now Wright is Henry's hero. "I want to entertain like him," he said.

A Henry goal tonight and he would join the likes of Wright in Gunner folklore. And Alan Smith of course.