“People don’t remember that. I didn’t start
one qualifying game for Euro 2000. Nothing.
I came back for the friendly just beforehand,
made the squad, and then the rest is history.
There was a lot of stuff like that.
“People often get confused about my time
at Juventus – I was playing well there but left
for different reasons, because of [managing
director] Luciano Moggi. If you don’t respect
me, I’m gone, and that’s what happened. At
Arsenal, for the first few months I was on the
bench behind Davor Suker, Nwankwo Kanu,
Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp... People
remember the end, but I’ve had to battle in
my life. No one ever gave me anything, and
that’s how it should be.
“Now it’s the same as a coach. I keep on
trying to say to people, ‘Hey, listen, I played
but it’s over, done’. That part of me is dead.
Now I need to do what I need to do to get
better as a coach.”
That process began shortly after he had
brought his playing career to an end at New
York Red Bulls in December 2014. Just a few
weeks later he was in Newport, commencing
his coaching qualifications via the respected
courses of the Welsh FA. Over the course of
a year he completed the UEFA Pro Licence,
studying alongside other well-known names.
“Mikel Arteta and Freddie Ljungberg were
on my course,” he says. “Mark Kennedy, too
- I don’t know if you will know the rest?”
Among them was Newport County gaffer
Mike Flynn, who has spoken about the many
WhatsApp messages he received from the
French ace during the club’s run to the FA Cup
fifth round in 2019.
“Yes, he was there too – oh, I didn’t know if
you knew him!” says Henry, his face lighting
up. “Joao Tralhao also, who I took to Monaco
as an assistant. That was great fun. We were
always challenging each other and we’re still
in touch – we have a group where we speak
to each other all the time. Flynny achieved
something in the cup, while other guys have
also been doing very well with Bala Town and
other teams in Wales.”
Could he tell Arteta had a sharp football
brain? “Yes, Mikel was a holding midfielder
and the holding midfielder is always the guy
that gels things together, with more of a view
of shape,” explains Henry. “Didier Deschamps
was the same, too. Then [for Arteta] going to
Manchester City and working alongside Pep
Guardiola, he must have learned a lot.
“I wish him all the best. You always need
a bit of time. It was really impressive what
he did in the FA Cup with Arsenal last season,outstanding. The FA Cup is so important for
Arsenal – as you know, the record we have in
that competition is second to none...”
Henry also coached at Arsenal for a period,
working with the youth teams. Then came
the chance to join Belgium’s coaching staff
shortly after Euro 2016.
“That was a great experience for me,” he
recalls. “Everything I learned from Roberto
Martinez, Graeme Jones, Richard Evans and
Inaki Bergara the goalkeeping coach was
exceptional, because they’d been through it
all, from Swansea and Wigan.
“People talk about playing with three at the
back – when Antonio Conte arrived at Chelsea
with a 3-4-3, people went, ‘Oh my God!’ But
Roberto Martinez had done that with Wigan
in 2011-12, and when they needed to stay
up, too. They had nine games left and won
seven of them. They played out from the back
with Gary Caldwell and Emmerson Boyce –
I’m not having a go at them, but I remember
them with other managers, then I saw them
playing for Roberto and suddenly they were
passing the ball 50 times. They won the FA
Cup like that, too. I know they scored from
a corner, but they gave Man City a real game
in that final.
“With the Belgium team, you’re going to
win matches more often than not with that
quality, and also the way he sets his team
up. I learned a lot. Listen, if you’re not ready
and you arrive and put on some passing drills,
if you don’t impress Romelu Lukaku, Kevin
De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele,
Dries Mertens, Jan Vertonghen and Vincent
Kompany – not only are those players not
stupid, but they’ve also had great managers.
If you do some drills, they could look at you
and say, ‘What is this?’
“Mertens’ football IQ is beyond anything
I’ve ever seen before. I remember being with
Graeme Jones on the bench during a game –
you can see that we’re going to be exposed“EnOUGH IS EnOUGH”
When football resumed after the COVID-19 break, Henry made an emotional stand in the fight against racism by taking a knee in support of Black Lives Matter
When Montreal played their
first match at the MLS Is
Back tournament in Florida,
Thierry Henry took the knee
for eight minutes, 46 seconds
after kick-off.
That was the same length of
time that a white police officer
had fatefully knelt on George
Floyd’s neck in Minneapolis
two months earlier, sparking
widespread protests about
racial injustice across the US.
Henry has previously said
that, during his playing days in
MLS, he felt some Manhattan
taxi drivers – oblivious of who
he was – opted not to stop for
him because of his ethnicity.
Placed on a table in his home,
Henry has a picture of Tommie
Smith’s iconic Black Power
salute at the 1968 Olympics,
and is a keen supporter of the
Black Lives Matter cause.
“It’s very important for me,
and the black community,
but something has changed
recently,” he says. “At the
beginning, you could see other
people tagging along because
they had to, but I see a lot of
people now really feeling our
pain, feeling that enough is
enough – enough of racism in
any community.
“I don’t understand how this
type of thing can still happen,especially so openly. I don’t
know if I’m going to be around
to see it, but eventually I hope
it will stop one day.
“Kwame Ampadu, Wilfried
Nancy and Patrice Bernier
were on our bench at Montreal.
Four black guys on the bench- I didn’t even think about it
until someone told me. I didn’t
go for colours – I simply went
for what I and the football club
needed – but it does represent
the town well, because there
are so many communities in
Montreal. I don’t know if there
are a lot of other teams who
have four black coaches sat on
their bench.”
“THE DAY BELGIUM BEAT BRAZIL
AT THE WORLD CUP WAS OnE OF
THE BEST MOMEnTS OF MY LIFE”
Above Henry
learned a lot from
Graeme Jones
(seated) and
Roberto Martinez in
his Belgium spell146 The Managers FourFourTwo.com
THIERRY
HEn RY