When the news broke about the former Arsenal and France international star Thierry Henry hanging up his football boots and joining the TV punditry team on Sky Sports, a lot of us took that to mean that he would not be coming back to the Gunners to work with Arsene Wenger in some capacity after all, as many of us had hoped.
But the 37-year old has moved quickly to allay our disappointment and declare that he does intend to get into the coaching and managerial side of the game he loves and has lit up as a player. And as an ESPN report reveals, Henry is hoping to do that in north London and I don’t mean at White Hart Lane.
The Frenchman with Va Va Voom is planning on taking his coaching badges and it sounds as though he is pretty keen to get started. Henry admits that there is no guarantee that he will prove to have what it takes to be a successful manager like his old mentor Arsene Wenger, but he is hoping so because that could mean that Henry could fulfill another of his dreams, to manage the Gunners one day.
Thierry said, “That would be a dream come true [to manage Arsenal], but that’s not how it works.
“You have to prove yourself first, you have to learn first. You need to be able to understand what it is to be a manager.
“Can you teach, can you be patient? All these problems. People think they are all managers in their own way, but it’s not that easy.
“The plan is to start my badges and I guess Arsenal will help me. To pass your badges, you have to work closely with a club and I would like to think it is going to be Arsenal. You know I’m in London when you see me at Arsenal.
“First and foremost I don’t know how or when, but everybody knows I would love to go back to Arsenal in some capacity. But I need to be equipped to go back. I want to learn the process, so I have to get my badges and what not. We will see what is going to happen.
“It’s not a secret, everybody talks about me going back to Arsenal and me the same thing, but it doesn’t always work like that. First and foremost, I have to make sure that I have everything on board to be able to go back.
“Hard work is all I know. It comes from my dad and the guys I played with when I arrived in the national team. [Zinedine] Zidane, [Youri] Djorkaeff, [Lilian] Thuram, [Marcel] Desailly, [Emmanuel] Petit, [Fabien] Barthez, that’s how they were and that’s what they taught me.
“So I took it on board because you can only be the reflection of your education. That’s the way I was educated, so that’s what I’m going to try to pass on.”
And Henry’s ambition do not stop at just following in Wenger’s footsteps at Arsenal, he also dreams of leading us one day to the Champions League glory he so narrowly missed as an Arsenal player. Do you think Henry will turn out to be as good a manager as he was a player?
It will take the king sometime before he can be worthy of seating on wengers seat
The king can do no wrong. Long live the King.
Oh King, live forever.
All that is mine is thine, even my wife.
Even your wife? I am sure about that
Yeah, even my wife!!! Dude, it’s called LOYALTY!!! The AKB stuff.
Obsequies___
With a deep sense of sorrow and regret, I do hereby formally announce the death of our dearly beloved friend, SARCASM, who died as a result of never being recognised or understood on JustArsenal.
Adieu!!!
Many top players make top managers.
Many top players fail as managers.
Very average players a la Wenger make
top managers. There is no magical formular.
I would like to see Henri manage a Div one side first
then a Championship side then a lower level Premier
side before finally returning to Arsenal.
You should earn it not be given it.
Does pep went through all this u mention..?@davdnz
@ arselonia yeah pep did earn it, winning the league with Barcelonas youth team and working wonders, the fact that he was a former player that knew the club inside out helped but pep did ply his trade before moving up to the top level
Spot on davidnz
What are chances of Arsenal landing Diego Godin ahead if Man U?
He would be the ideal candidate. My wish would definitely be Godin and pushing it even further would be getting in L Bender too but as i say its a wish… wont stop me dreaming though.
Off topic: I dont care whether we get cap tied players or not as long as they are world class. Season is already gone. We need to plan for next season. Just saying
that’s flawed logic. it may be close to impossible to win the prem this season, but we’re in the cl with a chance. now, that said, i do agree that i’d rather get a cup-tied and great CDM than not get one this january, if that means we have a better shot than getting him in the summer.
All great managers worked under someone first now a days. He needs to be one of wenger’s assistants and he can learn from the very best. In the future he can go take on a challenge to go at it by himself but I think he should be on wenger’s staff if he wants to manage some day.
Really?? Learn from wenger who is the very best???
Spot on. Henry should just come to Arsenal. He has a heavy lot to pass across. Simple. Look at Pep…
“People think they are all managers in their own way, but it’s not that easy.”
That is the best advice I have ever seen given to the commenters on this website haha.
To old Rick up there, yes. you dolt. Our Manager is one of the top managers ever. He has had his faults recently but to discount even his Monaco days are just words of a short sighted plastic. I’m not saying that’s you, I’m just saying let’s get it together here and at least have respect for the man regardless of your recent opinions. And just like most great minds, they lose it a bit at the end, but make great mentors when they pass on all that information
Respect where its due indeed dolt.The wenger of old could teach a thing or 2, but your talking over 10 years ago. If you and your mate are saying he still is the best manager around you are wrong. He aint in the same league as your maureens, peps, klops, look at his record against them. I would argue the case that henry could do a better job than him now without his badges but thats only my opinion.
Why can’t the fa allow us to play the loserpool match tomorrow?
Great players have proved to be bad managers. If he eventually becomes Arsenal manager, I hope he is one of a kind.
Wonder how long its going to be til he actually takes up a managerial post. From there, then how many years should he be in charge before we think hes experienced enough.
I think its impossible to say at this point whether or not he will become Arsenal manager. Obviously i would love for him to make the grade and become even more successful as manger than as a player.
I would like him to join up and gain some badges with Campbell Bergkamp Overmars DeBoer over in Amsterdam as im sure there is allot to be learned within that base. I think there are also good connections to be made in Holland regarding future talent and i believe managing a Dutch side would be a good starting point. Next, returning to England within a mid table to lower PL club. Finally all goes well with himself guiding the Arsenal to glory years.
I’ve been reporting of Henry’s plot to take down Wenger for years but no one took me seriously
sorry, but Wenger will be retired before Henry gets all his badges, let alone be ready to manage a prem side. let’s look at Zidane and our own Vierra–hopefully Henry will get a role in training and youth development at Arsenal or a role involving player development of our 1st team; then we can see how that goes for a couple of years. at that time, Wenger will either step down or already have stepped down. should be interesting to watch. but i think we can all agree that a role with Arsenal would do the club and the players a world of good.
Champion needs to stay a champion. Nothing left to learn from a manager who takes pride in failure. Good luck to the King.
I think that good manager make intelligent people who are passionated and understand and love the game. Thierry has the whole package.
I have actually seen him during the world cup talk about why defenses are working well against certain attacks and vice versa. I know that really means jack, but I think he sees more than the offensive side of the pitch. He has the tactical smarts and knows the game pretty well, but there’s a lot more. I hope you’re wrong as I would love to see him manage one day