Roux tips Arsenal to lead English 'sea change'

The longest-serving manager in football believes that Arsenal are at the forefront of a sea-change in the English game, which will enable the country's leading clubs to compete more effectively in modern European competition. Auxerre's Guy Roux has taken a town of 60,000 people from non-League to the Champions' League during his astonishing 41-year stint as coach, but, in the wake of a 1-0 home defeat to Arsène Wenger's team on Wednesday, he appeared delighted merely to have kept the score down following Gilberto Silva's goal just after half-time.

"In other games they've gone on to score three or four times," Roux said in reference to the recent performances against PSV Eindhoven and Leeds United, videotapes of which Roux had studied with a mixture of anxiety and admiration: "They're capable of scoring within five seconds of getting the ball back. Their forwards have devilish skill like I haven't seen in a long time."

In 1995, George Graham's Arsenal won by the same score – the one that became Graham's trademark – in Auxerre, with a team in which Stefan Schwarz was the only non-British player. Asked to comment on the difference between that side and Wenger's cosmopolitan XI, Roux said: "The way they play has certainly developed in the last six or seven years, particularly in the way they play a short-passing game to get past the opposition. It's almost Brazilian in style. There are other English clubs beginning to play the same way and it is a sea-change for English football."

It was unrealistic to expect Wenger's side to maintain the standards of Eindhoven and Elland Road indefinitely and the players and manager were prepared to admit that Wednesday's performance fell below them, most blaming fatigue and Roux's counter-attacking strategy. Thierry Henry, who did not have a single opportunity to add to his six goals in as many games, said: "We didn't play well but you have to be fair and say Auxerre weren't really going forward. People are also forgetting that's three times we've played away [in succession]. Last season we were so disappointed away from home in Europe but this season we're doing the business even when not playing well."

The upshot was a second successive away win in the competition, something which had taken 13 months to achieve previously. A draw in the return game at Highbury in three weeks' time will ensure qualification for the second stage, before and after which Arsenal must concentrate on defending their domestic title. Henry, who was taken off as a precaution in France, and Fredrik Ljungberg, who had a migraine, should both be available for Sunderland's visit on Sunday.

Wenger is not prepared to commit himself yet on the chances of reaching the last four for the first time, but Roux, the new Anglophile, was in no doubt: "Real Madrid, Milan and Barcelona have been very impressive, but Arsenal and Manchester United certainly have the capability to go to the semi-final or final."