of Henry, who was overheard on a pitchside
microphone shouting, “your grandmother’s
a whore!” at opposition player Kenny Lala.
“Too many times, we’ve seen his frustration
on the bench,” his former Arsenal team-mate
Emmanuel Petit said at the time. “When you
are a player, you have the power to change
what happens on the pitch. He’s still learning
what it’s like to have some of his power taken
away, and how to behave. His body language
and communication need to improve if he’s
to succeed as a coach.”
Henry apologised for the Lala incident and
has since avoided similar controversy. That
doesn’t mean he’s lost his passion, though –
last year, cameras followed the Frenchman
on the touchline during a MLS match against
Nashville, and the footage went viral as he
metaphorically kicked every ball, constantly
shouting instructions at his players.
Henry’s approach is much removed from
the quieter touchline presence of his former
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.
“You have to be you,” says Henry. “Arsene
was a lot calmer – most of the time with him
it was with the fourth official. Marcelo Bielsa
sits down, but sometimes you see that Jurgen
Klopp loses it. Antonio Conte shouts from the
first minute to the last – whether his side are
losing 20-0 or winning 20-0. Everyone was
happy with him when he was winning games
with Chelsea, then as soon as he started to
lose, people were talking about him on the
touchline, saying, ‘Ah, I think sometimes he
should calm down’.
“If you just sit down and don’t do anything,
people will go, ‘He’s not coaching, the team
is suffering, why is he not getting up?’ Then if
you coach your team, ‘Ah, that’s a bit much,
sit down and let them play.’ If a guy sits, that
doesn’t mean he’s not passionate, but this is
me, I live the game. Be you. I’m a bit vocal at
times – sometimes I shout too much, other
times I don’t shout. That’s me.”
He’s never tried to imitate Wenger, but he
does talk to his old Arsenal manager and Pep
Guardiola, his coach at Barcelona.
“Whenever I see a coach, I always speak to
them,” says Henry. “Obviously I speak to Pep,
and I speak to Arsene whenever I can reach
him. We speak, because when I was a player
and he was a coach, I was chewing his ear
out. Now as a coach I want to know things.”
What did he learn from Arsene and Pep in
those storied playing days?
“Arsene triggered my brain – I needed that
at the time,” he says.
“I needed to be more confident, to realise
what type of player I was and what I could
do. I started to ask myself the right questions.
I always blamed others, but I began to blame
myself first. I started to see how I could help
others instead of saying to others, ‘Hey, you
need to help me’.
“Pep was a master of tactics. He can see so
much that sometimes it might be a problemfor him, because he sees a lot and he wants
to change things a lot! Tactically, he’s a freak.
The stuff I learned from him was incredible.”UTOPIA WITH LIOn EL RICHIE
Back in February 2020, in Henry’s first two
matches as manager, Montreal edged past
Costa Rican side Saprissa in the CONCACAF
Champions League, then overcame New
England Revolution in his debut MLS fixture.
Former Barcelona team-mate Bojan Krkic
featured in that game – days later, ex-Spurs
midfielder Victor Wanyama arrived.
But soon, the coronavirus shutdown took
the whole world by surprise. When the MLSTHE ARSEnAL FAn’S VIEW
By his own admission, Henry is a long way from becoming Gunners boss right now – Arseblog’s Tim Stillman assesses whether it could ever be a possibility
“Thierry Henry the player was
peerless. Not just because of
the incredible way he applied
his talent, but because he
had a certain appreciation of
those gifts, too.
He provided great theatre:
the moon-faced celebrations,
the icy glances towards other
teams’ fans and players, the
corner flag nutmeg of a forlorn
Danny Mills. The Frenchman
was a vaudevillian footballer,
always knowingly winking at
his audience.
You also got the sense he
needed to be loved. He fed off
the devotion of the Arsenal
crowd. During his youth career,
Henry scored six goals in one
match – on the trip home, his
dad chided him for misplacing
a pass. It drove him to be the
player he was, which explains
his less-than-excitable goal
celebrations over the years.His poker-faced nonchalance
looked fantastic after finding
the net or as he towered over
another bereft opponent. In
adversity, it often tipped into
petulance and made Henry
a questionable selection for
Arsenal captain. In a young
side that needed an avuncular
presence, he often scowled
and pouted.
For that reason, I’ve never
been totally convinced by theidea of Henry the manager.
Great bosses inspire respect
before they receive adoration.
Sometimes, players need an
arm around the shoulder, and
I’ve always wondered whether
Henry could adapt his style. In
his playing days with Arsenal,
he was often an outstanding
individual – but outstanding
individuals don’t always go
on to become great leaders.
Time will tell.”Clockwise from
above “I’ll ask you
again, Titi, did you
move all my
cones?”; Henry
praises full effort;
the way he speaks
to players has had
to adaptImagesGetty Images; PAFourFourTwo.com The Managers 149THIERRY
HEn RY