Henry: Now back on form (PhilCole/Allsport)

Thierry Henry was a player gasping for a goal on Boxing Day, but the three he produced against Leicester City left him somehow less than satisfied, and he retired from view having barely acknowledged the rapturous acclaim of the Highbury crowd.

Arsene Wenger, when asked about his protege's apparent lack of joy on the occasion of his maiden hat-trick for the club, shed little light on the subject.

'He is unpredictable that way - like he is on the pitch,' said the Arsenal manager.

Team-mates past and present maintain that it is difficult to get to know Henry. Shyness has been a big part of his character since growing up in the Les Ulis district outside Paris where he did little else outside of playing football.

His obsession with improving himself aided the discovery of his talent while playing for Viry Chatillon, where he scored 76 times in 22 matches before he was sent to the French centre for excellence at Clairefontaine.

It was there that he met Nicolas Anelka and the two became friends, though it was Henry who first signed for Wenger when he was head coach at AS Monaco.

Confidence was never an issue for Henry then, but since his blooding in the Principality's first team at the age of 17, self-doubt has hindered his ability to realise all of his huge potential.

Arsenal fans are used to watching him drift out to the left - an innate part of his game which he appears unwilling or unable to curb in his new role as a central striker.

Wenger must take part of the blame since it was he who first sent him wide in order to accommodate Sonny Anderson in his Monaco team. By the time he left for Juventus, the die was cast.

Although it was Juve owner Giovanni Agnelli who made a personal phone call to Prince Albert of Monaco in a successful bid to purchase Henry, the youngster did not quite fit in with coach Carlo Ancelotti's plans.

'I am expected to win the title and I cannot give Henry what he needs, which is nurturing,' said Ancelotti, before selling the player to Arsenal for £10.5million six months after he arrived.

Wenger has asked him to play in the striker's role and, while Henry has adapted well, the success he has enjoyed has caused its own problems. Colleagues have identified his drive for perfection as one of the reasons he can come across as sullen or moody.

For Henry, introspection is a means of eliminating flaws but there are those who say that he thinks too much about what he can't do, rather than the many things he does brilliantly.

The 23-year-old Frenchman has admitted that he is still learning. 'Before I came to Arsenal I had not played as a striker for 10 years,' he said. 'It was strange but now I love it.'

Perhaps love-hate would be a more accurate description. Instances in which the team have won but Henry's performance has not matched his own exacting standards can see him withdraw within himself.

A single missed chance seems to cause him anguish when others would be pleased to accept the victory under any circumstances.

While scathing of his own mistakes, he clearly doesn't appreciate criticism from anyone else. 'It wasn't fair to say that we cannot score away from home,' he said in reply to remarks made about the drought in non-Highbury goals.

'I have a lot of character. Myself and the team showed that against Leicester. I don't know if the people who said those things about me and the other strikers play football. They have to understand that it is difficult to play as a striker away from home.'

Wenger, meanwhile, must also devote his attention to restoring goal-keeper Alex Manninger to form.

'Alex's confidence is a problem but I'm not going to bring anyone else in,' said Wenger. 'We'll work on his confidence and restore it.'