Saha picks Henry ahead of Ruud

He again looked out of sorts at Highbury on Sunday and missed an easy chance to convert the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cross which was eventually put in at the far post by Saha in the 86th minute to cancel out Henry's wonder strike.

Saha was alarmingly blunt in his views on his new club colleague in an interview with a French newspaper. United's £12million signing from Fulham said: 'Ruud has never played in major finals, either with United or with Holland, and he needs to gain experience at the highest level.

'Thierry is far more experienced. He's played in the World Cup, Euro 2000 and Confederations Cup Finals and he is battle-hardened - he knows how to approach games like these.

'Ruud is well built and scores a lot of goals with his head, but this is not his main quality. He can still improve in this respect.

'Thierry, too, can get better, but he receives fewer chances in the air as he often takes corners and free-kicks himself.

'Ruud never scores from outside the 18-yard area and never takes free-kicks. It is very rare to see him trying his luck from a distance.

'But Thierry sometimes gets in fantastic shots. He's worked a lot on his shooting and this has become a fearsome weapon.

'Ruud doesn't take much of a part in the team's collective play. United ask him to play with his back to goal and to win throwins and to be there in the box when he needs to be - his game is all about finishing.

'Thierry is different. He will often drop back to get the ball, as he needs space to make good use of his speed. He can create chances, play the final pass or score goals.'