Runner-up with Arsenal in the Champions League. Losing finalist with France at the World Cup. Third for the European player of the year award.

Thierry Henry is getting used to losing.

Now, with his relationship with Arsenal showing signs of strain, maybe he needs a new challenge elsewhere.

The talented France striker has plenty to think about these days. He's sidelined partly through suspension and partly through a back injury which could keep him out until sometime in the new year.

Henry says he wants to stay with Arsenal for the rest of his career. But is Arsenal good enough for Thierry Henry?

The Gunners are 16 points behind Manchester United in the Premier League and 10 behind second-place Chelsea, which has won the title the past two seasons.

With Henry suspended, Arsenal goes to FC Porto on Wednesday knowing that a defeat could mean elimination from the Champions League. The Gunners have also been drawn to play at Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup in early January.

Because Henry's sciatic nerve problem could last for up to six weeks, the Gunners could be out of contention for all three titles by the time he returns.

If that happens, Henry's current separation from the team could wind up in divorce during the January transfer window. The likes of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan might be listening closely to developments at Arsenal in the next few weeks, even though Henry is only a year into a four-year contract.

Henry has played in a major part in Arsenal's transformation under manager Arsene Wenger from a pedantic, defence-minded team that routinely won games 1-0 to the enterprising, quick-passing collection of young stars whose skills with the ball have attracted a worldwide fan club.

But Henry has become frustrated at what he sees as a lack of ambition behind the scenes and lack of support on it.

While the club has built a spectacular new 60,000-capacity stadium virtually a goal kick away from Highbury, it has remained stingy in the transfer market. The Gunners signed Czech Republic midfielder Tomas Rosicky during the off-season but Henry wanted a co-striker.

He was also disappointed the club let captain Patrick Vieira leave for Juventus a year ago and didn't do more to keep Dennis Bergkamp active instead of letting the Dutch striker drift quietly into retirement.

Last season, Wenger started using a 4-5-1 formation with Henry the lone striker and, while it got the Gunners to the Champions League final, the player watched forlornly from the other end of the field as Barcelona came back from a goal down to win 2-1.

After a poor start to the season, two losses in a row to Bolton and Fulham last week pushed the Gunners further out of league title contention, and Henry reportedly was furious when told he would miss Saturday's game against Tottenham.

``He is not ready to play. He is tired. He needs to fully recover and he cannot expect to walk straight back in,'' Wenger said.

But this was a game against Arsenal's north London neighbour and traditional rival. According to the Times of London, Henry stormed off the training field on Friday when told he wouldn't play. He told reporters later that he and the manager hadn't fallen out.

``What is the problem if I am upset about not playing against Spurs and that I can't help my teammates at the moment?'' Henry said.

They didn't need him. Arsenal beat Tottenham 3-0, although helped by two disputed penalties.

Henry sat behind Wenger during Saturday's game and some papers suggested he tried to steal some of the limelight by making himself readily available to be photographed or interviewed.

Henry admitted to the French sports newspaper L'Equipe that sometimes he is not easy to deal with.

``Quite simply, it is true that I can be a pig. It is not a lie to say that,'' he said. ``Sometimes, I feel that I am in the right even when I am wrong. But to claim that I wanted the power _ no. To say that I wanted to play in a 4-5-1 _ no. Everyone that knows me knows that I prefer to play alongside a teammate (in attack).''

With the season not even halfway over, Arsenal appears to have little chance of catching the two teams above and there are no signs that Wenger will give Henry his co-striker.

``The January transfer window opens soon but I can confirm that we will not sign anybody,'' the Arsenal manager said. ``We will go on until the end of the season with the players we have.''

Those aren't the words Henry wants to hear.

After seven years of slaloming runs, bending free kicks and record-breaking goals for the Gunners, it might be time for Henry to think about scoring them somewhere else.