Thierry Henry has now named the six Arsenal legends who were ‘not there to be nice’ upon the heroic France striker’s transfer to Highbury from Juventus in August 1999.
The Gunners raided Turin to add a World Cup winner to their frontline after Henry fell out of favour. It proved to be one of the greatest deals Arsene Wenger ever made at Highbury with Henry going on to be one of the greatest Arsenal legends ever and is their record goalscorer.
Arsenal supporters witnessed 228 goals in 377 appearances over his initial eight-year stay in north London and Henry’s brief return. Wenger coaxed the King back to Emirates Stadium in 2012 on loan from New York Red Bulls, five years after Arsenal sold the striker to Barcelona.
Thierry Henry names Tony Adams among the Arsenal legends ‘not there to be nice to you’
Henry arrived at Highbury with a World Cup winners’ medal in his cabinet from France 1998. But his time in the English capital added two Premier League titles and three FA Cup titles to Arsenal’s trophy cabinet. Henry replaced Patrick Vieira as Arsenal’s captain in July 2005, too.
The legendary Va, Va, Voom attacker has now opened up on his role as a leader at Highbury, as well. Henry saw inspiring his teammates and members of Arsenal’s academy as a ‘natural’ duty having learned what the club and the cannon means from those who came before him.
Thierry Henry opens up on his role as a leader at Highbury
But Henry doubts the stars playing under Mikel Arteta today would get away with the same antics his teammates employed. He claims the likes of fellow Arsenal legends Martin Keown, Tony Adams, David Seaman and Ray Parlour quickly let Henry know what the club expected.
Henry told the official Arsenal website: “I just saw it as a natural thing to do, exactly as the old guard had done for me when I arrived. Sometimes we were a bit rough with them – in training or when we were talking. If they didn’t do their job, we let them know!
“Maybe it was a different time and that sort of stuff isn’t said in the dressing room now but I’m talking about back then. When I first arrived, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Tony Adams, David Seaman, Ray Parlour – they were not there to be nice to you!
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“It was never going to be just a jog in the park. No, no, no. The cannon means something, Arsenal means something and that’s what they let me know. I took that and passed it on. Sometimes you’ve got to be the guy’s best friend and, at times, you’ve got to be hard.”
Adams was the perfect legend for Henry to learn what Arsenal means from. The centre-back was Mr Arsenal for 19 years and even spent 14 of those as the club’s captain. He took up the armband at only 21 years old, too, and sealed 10 major trophies as a genuine one-club hero.