Thierry Henry Says This Is The Key To Arsenal’s Massive Success

When soccer legend Thierry Henry turned up for our Zoom interview last Thursday, he was wearing a smile on his face, plus a little of the intensity that marked his entire 20-year career. But Henry also had on a black t-shirt touting one of his favorite musical acts—rappers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Public Enemy.

I couldn’t help but make a music connection and said I liked his shirt as I pointed in kind to the A Tribe Called Quest poster on the wall behind me.

“This just goes to show our generation has better taste in music than Millennials do,” I said to Henry. Henry laughed and replied, “Yes, I’m with you!”

Like Public Enemy, Henry was, in his own right, known for a “Shut ‘Em Down” approach to opponents on the pitch.

Henry was part of the prolific France team that won the 1998 World Cup. Shortly thereafter, Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, then helping the North London club become a perennial contender atop the English Premier League, and also a two-time league champion.

And after a long, prestigious career in which the French international knocked in a total of 281 goals for Arsenal as well as Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona, and the New York Red Bulls, you will now see Henry knocking on the front doors of a few footie fans.

Going into the final rounds of the UEFA Champions League, Henry has partnered with global brand Lay’s to share his love of the game.

To celebrate the countdown to the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League’s eventual final, to be held June 10, 2023, in Istanbul, the brand brought on the global icon to send him to the doorsteps of some of Barcelona’s most dedicated fans.

In a marketing stunt announcing the “No Lay’s, No Game” platform, Henry surprises fans at their front door.

In a video titled “Thierry Visits,” Henry kicks off “No Lay’s, No Game,” dropping in unexpectedly on Barça fans at home to see if they were prepared for the game with plenty of Lay’s chips. If they were, the superstar striker stayed to watch the match with them, and if not, Henry left in search of other, more prepared supporters.

“It was something I’ve never done before,” Henry said of surprising fans at their homes. “I’ve done a lot of stuff with fans, and my Spanish is good.”

Henry admits that he did have some trepidation in stopping by unannounced two hours before kickoff. But the reaction from fans, he said, made up for it.

“I thought maybe it’s going to be awkward, but why not? I would have loved for someone to surprise me like that,” Henry said. “It brought me back to me, as the young sports fan inside me. Imagine if I’d seen Michael Jordan at my door when I was young—I would have passed out.”

VIDEO: Soccer legend Thierry Henry surprises a few fans

Henry also added that when he was an active player in the thick of trying to win championships, he felt the love of the fans but didn’t necessarily realize how the game inspires everyday people.

“Sometimes, when you are deep in the game, playing, working out every day, sometimes twice a day, and you tend to forget the power of sports—and the effect it has on people.”

Henry was also quick to mention that when he was growing up, Michael Jordan was the world’s most well-known athlete.

“Back then, growing up, you could (only) see Jordan on TV or in a stadium, in a game,” Henry said. “He was almost untouchable. As an athlete, Michael Jordan changed everything.” Henry added, “I have seen him (in person) since then. When I did see him, I didn’t pass out!”

Lay’s also mentioned in a statement this week how their brand’s commitment extends well beyond door-knocking stunts, of course. For example, the Lay’s RePlay program is an award-winning program that transforms used chip bags and packaging into football pitches and turf across the globe. Since it launched in 2021, the brand says the initiative has provided over 5,000 hours of soccer programming to nearly 50,000 young people.

During his time as an active player and ever since, Henry has been one of the most commercially marketable footballers in the world. He also currently has football-related brand partnerships with Heineken and Puma.

Henry said that in doing the new campaign, meeting fans in person was a fulfilling experience.

“It was surprising for them and for me. I was able to connect with people on a personal level, at a fan level. It was amazing, really.”

Arsenal on fire

Henry admits that in a similar way, there was plenty of excitement when he first joined Arsenal, coming from Juventus on a high-profile $11 million transfer. There was an immediate connection with fans.

After all, Henry would become manager Arsene Wenger’s most favored weapon and would go on to become Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer, with 228 goals in all club competitions.

But the ex-striker points out that coming on board brought out the best in him since Arsenal had other legendary players in place when he arrived.

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“I was fortunate to arrive at an amazing club with guys that have already won (a championship) before,” Henry added, also saying that he was “shown what it was to be an Arsenal player.”

Henry also said that, like any club that has had lots of wins, much of the success comes from a manager with a vision.

“In order for a coach, and now it’s Mikel Arteta, to get rid of people who are not there for the right reasons, to change, to go to the transfer market to find the right players for your club—it takes time to build what you have now.”

Henry also said that “you have to give a lot of credit to the sporting director for giving (Arteta) time, and believing in him, believing in one man.”

At the moment it does seem that Arteta’s takeover of and plans for the club have everything falling into place. Currently, two Arsenal players are among the top ten scorers in the league—Bukayo Saya and Gabriel Martinelli, with 9 and 8 goals respectively. With 15 games left for Arsenal to play, the team is at the top of the English Premier League table by two points, with a game in hand over second-place Manchester City.

Henry also thinks there’s infectious excitement at Arsenal right now. He says that he thinks the “family aspect” of the club, from players on the pitch to the fans in the stands, has always been a key part of Arsenal’s success.

“Now you can see when the players at Arsenal celebrate, they over-celebrate, perhaps, but in a good way. It’s the family club feel that’s coming back stronger again.”

For what it’s worth, Henry dished up his own share of excitement for Gunners fans in his eight years at the club.

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Along with all his goal-scoring, Henry, now 45, also won the Premier League’s Golden Boot award a record four times and helped the club snag two FA Cups plus two Premier League titles. He also was pivotal in helping Arsenal go undefeated during the 2003–04 EPL season, netting 30 goals on his own that season.

Later, Henry was named team captain for the 2005 and 2006 seasons and then led Arsenal to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.

Competitive state of mind

When I asked about his time up front for Arsenal and his technique, Henry states that he was never intimidated by defenders, nor took any pause even from their main rivals, 20-time league champions Manchester United.

“The type of defenders that I like that I also respect the most were the ones who take the ball away from you, and you don’t even notice it.” Yet, Henry said that his killer instinct as a goal scorer always came with a heavy dose 0f self-improvement mindset.

“What I always used to say is that (football) is a state of mind. I’m always working on myself,” Henry said. “I never thought about who I couldn’t score against. Instead, in my head, it would be, ‘you didn’t score, you didn’t play well enough.’”

Though Henry didn’t specify any Premier League defenders that gave him trouble, he did mention three players from Italy’s Serie A and the Champions League that he had to contend with.

“If you want me to say names, there’s (Paolo) Maldini, (Alessandro) Nesta, and of course (Lilian) Thuram,” he said. “But it was always me—that was my own biggest competitor.”

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