Thierry Henry has admitted that managing Arsenal one day would be a dream but said that he’s got a lot still to learn before that can happen.
The club’s leading goalscorer has just begun his coaching badges, and has been doing sessions with the youth teams at the Hale End academy, so a role at the top of any club, let alone Arsenal, is a long way away.
However, he told the Jonathan Ross show (not yet broadcast) that it would be his ideal job.
“Being the manager of Arsenal FC would be a dream,” he said. “But I need to learn first. That is the most important thing.
“I just want to be equipped, to be in the position, maybe one day to be a manager.”
And when asked if what would happen if he were offered the job, he said, “I don’t know what Arsene wants to do and how long he wants to stay, but I could not say ‘no’ to Arsenal. So I would say ‘yes’.”
Obviously this is all pie-in-the-sky stuff at the moment and while the idea of a legend like Thierry coming back and taking the club forward as a manager is a very nice one indeed, that’s all it is right now.
In the meantime, he’ll continue with his badges and says he’s had to change his manner on the training ground.
“When I was playing I was a pain the neck as I was demanding of myself and of others,” he said.
“When you are coaching you can’t scream and shout. You don’t want to scare your players.”
If I was a coach I’d definitely scare my players. Like hiding behind curtains and grabbing them when they came out, or like this guy.
But that’s probably just me.
Please come back one day Thierry. You legend. But I do hope Arsene stays as long as he can and gradually give it to someone like Thierry or Dennis unlike that git at Manchester did.
Charisma, intelligence, reputation, all good.
If he can learn to do the job and get support where he needs it (eg Arsene consulting) he could be a great manager. Though not many past footballers are…
Um, you do know Wenger, Sir Alex, Maureen, Guardiola, Ancelotti, etc….were all past footballers?
Check out Mourinho…
I said that ‘not many past footballers are…’
Adams, Keown, Dixon, Seaman, Winterbottom, Bould, Wright, Smith, Merson, Bergkamp, Sansom, O’Leary, Robson, Nicholas, Quinn are all past footballers and none are great managers. I can give you lots more of these than you can give great managers that are past footballers!
Er, basically all managers are past footballers. Saying not all past footballers can be managers is pretty much the same thing as saying not everyone can be a manager. Thanks for pointing out the bleeding obvious.
Still not the point I’m making. But keep trying!
All manager are ex-players. Not all ex-players can be managers. Therefore not everyone can be a manager. Thanks for that bit of insight.
Try reading what I wrote about Thierry, think of the implications given that.
You will get there in time, I hope.
Winterbottom?!?
Lol.
Come and be our Pep Guardiola, we know you will be excellent when your turn comes.
as in: only stay 4 years? …just kiddin’! I get your Guardiola-drift. Seriously though, Henry’s got everything going for him to one day be a great Arsenal manager, though I share the sentiment that not many football greats are coaching heros, so in that respect: Henry can be our Pep. Imo he still has a long way to go. Lets get Dennis, Robert, Patrick and… errr… Sylvestre?!? on board, too. Ahhh, just dreamin’.
I’d love it if in the future Arsene took over David Dein’s old role and Thierry came in to manage with DB10 as his assistant.
Just imagine how fucking awesome that would be.
You can see it panning out that Arsene stays on until Henry is ready to take over. Nice idea for us fans I think and as the question is always posed – who would you take as a manager?
I know I’d like Henry if he was skilled enough in the role.
Cheer up chums, have a look at this
https://vine.co/v/O2ZIJahn9qE
Hi Thierry, are you available this Sunday?
It’s incredibly difficult to manage a team at the level of arsenal. Wenger is the reason we’ve stayed as competitive as we are through all those sub-par(for us) new stadium era teams. Look at how shit Chelsea was until they could get mourinho back. I would love Thierry to coach us to victory but I would be very sceptical for a while. He needs to actually manage teams before he can take the reins at arsenal. Have him go back to France and coach a few teams. If he ends up getting Nantes into the champions league or something I… Read more »
Joking aside, yes – you can scare your players and maybe you should just a little bit from time to time.