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Inspired by Henry
Wayne Veysey, Evening Standard12 Feb 2008
Emmanuel Adebayor today revealed the part that Thierry Henry is playing as his personal motivational guru to help Arsenal's push for the title.
The striker was contacted by his former team-mate, now at Barcelona, only minutes after last night's 2-0 victory over Blackburn to congratulate him on his goal as Arsene Wenger's side moved five points clear at the top of the League.
Adebayor says Arsenal legend Henry has been a close confidante during what is turning out to be a remarkable season for the Togolese, who is now level with Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Golden Boot.
He added: "Thierry is like a big brother. A lot of times he is sending me a message saying things like, 'I know you have a lot of quality, you have scored 15 or 16 goals now and you can score more if you put more concentration in every game', so that is what I am trying to do, to listen to the elder players.
"He believes in me, in my strength of character and my quality. I want to thank him as he has helped me a lot. We are in touch always. He talked to me during the summer when he was leaving. We have a lot in common and get on well."
After Philippe Senderos had given Arsenal an early lead at Emirates Stadium last night, Adebayor sealed the victory with his 13th goal in 11 games. It was the ninth match in succession in which he had scored - Ian Wright holds the record with 11.
Adebayor said: "We knew last night would be very difficult. You cannot say we played the best football but we took the three points and we are extremely happy about that. Of course we are feeling closer to the title. Kolo [Toure] is coming back, [Emmanuel] Eboue is coming back and [Alexandre] Song will be back in two or three days. We have done well while they have been at the African Nations' Cup and want to push even more when they get back.
"The title is not finished yet. You know Manchester United can come from behind but we just have to keep our focus and see whether we win the title."
Arsenal have breathing space at the top but their leading scorer recognises there are some demanding tests to come.
Adebayor said: "We have a lot of big games coming up. We go to Manchester, we go to Chelsea, we play at Liverpool as well so it is going to be exciting.
"The belief is there but the most important thing is to keep our feet on the ground. It is not going to be easy."
