Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hit
out at France's national side after confirming earlier on Tuesday
that star striker Thierry Henry's season was over.
Henry emerged off the bench in The Gunners' recent UEFA Champions
League clash with PSV Eindhoven, but finished the game with groin
and stomach injuries.
Wenger believes France rushed Henry into action too quickly
following his exploits in last summer's World Cup finals in
Germany.
"He is paying the price of success," said Wenger. "I feel he has
been badly managed after the World Cup by the French football
team.
"I take responsibility for all the rest, but not for what I have
not done. After the World Cup final on July 9, I gave him a holiday
until August 4.
"Then he came back, we prepared him, I left him out of the
Champions League qualifier in Zagreb, they called him up for the
game on August 16 - less than 14 days after he came back - and they
played him in the whole game against Bosnia. It was a
friendly.
"After he had played in the World Cup final - why do they need to
play him in the whole game?"
Meanwhile, Wenger has lamented Arsenal's below-par season and is
unhappy the North Londoners have failed to win silverware in their
first year at the Emirates.
"You will look back and think you cannot be completely happy
because you do not win everything," said Wenger.
"Maybe in the future we will look back at this season and think
that is where we built a real team for the future. That is what I
hope.
"I also believe that we have never produced so many consistent
performances over a season.
"But I feel in the end it is difficult to take because we have
played 17 games over December and January, which caught up with us
a bit physically in February - especially the two FA Cup
replays.
"They killed us a bit for the Champions League, combined with the
fact that we had so many players out. It was all a bit too
much."