Wenger mark 10 years with a win
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was happy to mark ten years at the club with tonight's 2-0 win over Porto.
Wenger said: "I think sometimes about how things have changed. This afternoon I listened to Tony Blair saying: '10 years ago we started' and I thought he was talking about me!
"He said how the world has changed and our world here has changed as well.
"These (surrounding at the Emirates Stadium) are concrete signs the club is going the right way.
"I don't feel a sense of pride at the moment - but one day when I am not here I want to be able to look back with a sense of pride.
"We want to continue to develop the club. Reaching the final last year has given us belief and frustration as well.
"We try to transform that frustration into more motivation. We were very, very close to the line.
"We have a young team and feel we can improve. The players that joined us are getting stronger and stronger. Players like William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky had great performances tonight."
But Gallas limped off at the end of the match with a hamstring injury and is set to miss Saturday's Barclays Premiership game at Charlton.
"It looked to me very serious but I hope it's not too bad," said Wenger.
"For Saturday we will be short and then I don't know if he will be available for the French national team."
Gallas played a key role in Arsenal's second, embarking on a clever run forward before squaring the ball to Henry who in turn teed up Hleb.
Henry scored with his head for the second game running and came into his own in the second half, as Arsenal bossed proceedings in their new HQ.
After a dodgy start at Ashburton Grove, Arsenal have now scored five times in two matches.
"Overall it was a great team performance against a strong Porto side," said Wenger.
"We feel it is getting better every game. The width is better, when we have to play counter-attack we do it, when we have to be patient we do it. The players are mastering the size of the pitch much better and we slowly feel at home here.
"Thierry doesn't only play to score goals. But to score 50 in Europe is a tremendous performance. The numbers don't lie.
"You will not find many players who have scored more goals in Europe than he has."
Porto coach Manuel Ferreira admitted his side failed to live with Arsenal's pace, especially after they fell behind to Henry's 38th-minute header.
"Arsenal are a team with the ability to change a game very quickly. Their play was really fast and we couldn't keep up.
"As soon as they scored the second goal I knew it would be much much harder. We tried to keep the ball but they were really on a roll.
"We had to stick to our own system. If we had got into playing Arsenal's way the result could have been much worse."
Wenger said: "I think sometimes about how things have changed. This afternoon I listened to Tony Blair saying: '10 years ago we started' and I thought he was talking about me!
"He said how the world has changed and our world here has changed as well.
"These (surrounding at the Emirates Stadium) are concrete signs the club is going the right way.
"I don't feel a sense of pride at the moment - but one day when I am not here I want to be able to look back with a sense of pride.
"We want to continue to develop the club. Reaching the final last year has given us belief and frustration as well.
"We try to transform that frustration into more motivation. We were very, very close to the line.
"We have a young team and feel we can improve. The players that joined us are getting stronger and stronger. Players like William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky had great performances tonight."
But Gallas limped off at the end of the match with a hamstring injury and is set to miss Saturday's Barclays Premiership game at Charlton.
"It looked to me very serious but I hope it's not too bad," said Wenger.
"For Saturday we will be short and then I don't know if he will be available for the French national team."
Gallas played a key role in Arsenal's second, embarking on a clever run forward before squaring the ball to Henry who in turn teed up Hleb.
Henry scored with his head for the second game running and came into his own in the second half, as Arsenal bossed proceedings in their new HQ.
After a dodgy start at Ashburton Grove, Arsenal have now scored five times in two matches.
"Overall it was a great team performance against a strong Porto side," said Wenger.
"We feel it is getting better every game. The width is better, when we have to play counter-attack we do it, when we have to be patient we do it. The players are mastering the size of the pitch much better and we slowly feel at home here.
"Thierry doesn't only play to score goals. But to score 50 in Europe is a tremendous performance. The numbers don't lie.
"You will not find many players who have scored more goals in Europe than he has."
Porto coach Manuel Ferreira admitted his side failed to live with Arsenal's pace, especially after they fell behind to Henry's 38th-minute header.
"Arsenal are a team with the ability to change a game very quickly. Their play was really fast and we couldn't keep up.
"As soon as they scored the second goal I knew it would be much much harder. We tried to keep the ball but they were really on a roll.
"We had to stick to our own system. If we had got into playing Arsenal's way the result could have been much worse."
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