Arsenal skipper Thierry Henry says he is feeling positive ahead of the new season despite losing 2-1 to London rivals Chelsea in the Community Shield.
Jose Mourinho's men started the new season as they finished the last by claiming the silverware on offer at The Millennium Stadium, although if past years are anything to go by the victory could be a bad omen for The Blues. Henry is well aware that the winners of the showcase event rarely go on to claim the league title, and Arsenal's performance gave The Gunners hope that they can still match their illustrious counterparts in the post-Patrick Vieira era.
The men from Highbury enjoyed the lion's share of possession and Henry says that he is feeling confident ahead of the resumption of hostilities on Saturday: "We have to be confident otherwise I might as well go home," said Henry. "If you look at the Charity Shield and the Community Shield record in the past it does not really affect the rest of the season. We won against Manchester United last year but it did not stop us losing twice in the league to them." He went on to say: "You cannot take anything from this into the season, in England the season is really long. I am not that disappointed, we have to concentrate on the positive and I like to think that we had Chelsea in trouble at times."
One area of worry for Arsenal this season is clearly the midfield after Edu joined Vieira in heading for foreign pastures, although against the pre-eminent talents of Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele, Arsenal's charges were not overawed in Cardiff. Francesco Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini acquitted themselves well in the first half whilst Brazilian star Gilberto came back to action after his summer exertions for his country. Henry reserved praise for young Spaniard Fabregas, whilst advancing the notion that Gilberto would be key to help fill the void left by Vieira's defection to Juventus. "I think Cesc Fabregas played really well against Chelsea and Gilberto came back really late from the Confederations Cup so he has been short," Henry continued. "But if you saw the way he played when he came on he played really well and looked really great. I would like to think he will help us cope with the departure of Patrick." | 
