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The ‘brilliant’ advice Arsene Wenger once gave Thierry Henry when he was furious with another Arsenal Invincible

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Arsenal legends Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry share a very special relationship.

The two French icons are the biggest reason why the Gunners are such a massive club today. Henry is the club’s greatest-ever player, while Wenger is the best manager North London has ever seen.

When the two of them joined forces in 1999, Arsenal became one of the best clubs in England and achieved immense success in the following years.

It was a joy to watch that team play, especially in the Invincibles season, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing behind the scenes.

Why Arsenal legend Thierry Henry complained to Arsene Wenger about Freddie Ljungberg

Like every great goalscorer, Henry always wanted to score.

Yes, the Frenchman has admitted that he got more pleasure assisting players, but the feeling of scoring a goal is absolutely unmatched.

When Henry played through the middle at Arsenal, he had Dennis Bergkamp playing just behind him, Robert Pires on the left and Freddie Ljungberg on the right.

Those four players produced incredible memories for the fans. They were absolutely unstoppable on their day and could blow any team away.

However, after one game many years ago, Henry revealed that he angrily went to Wenger to complain about how Ljungberg never passed the ball to him.

The legendary Arsenal manager calmed him down with a brilliant bit of advice that changed Henry’s career and made him the superstar striker he became.

Arsene Wenger Retrospective
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

What Arsene Wenger told Thierry Henry that changed his career

Henry was a guest on the Rest Is Football podcast last year, and the Frenchman explained to Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer what happened when he went to Wenger complaining about Ljungberg.

Here’s how Wenger and Henry’s conversation went, as described by the latter.

Henry: “Freddie never passes the ball.”

Wenger: “Can Freddie see you?”

Henry: “He has eyes, no? Can he not see me? What do you mean ‘can he see you’?

Wenger: “No, can he see you?”

Henry: “Boss, what are you talking about?”

Wenger: “Don’t ask yourself the wrong question. Can Freddie see you?

Henry: No, he cannot see me. That’s true, he usually has his head down.

Wenger: “Well, start to think how you should move with the players.

That advice changed Henry’s career for the better.

The Arsenal legend said: “So I started to think ‘With Dennis, you move however. With Robert, he likes you to come short and do a one-two. Freddie likes to dribble, so you need to be in his line of vision of dribble. So I started to move and make runs in function of who had the ball.

Henry further added: “So I started to adjust my game to them. This is where Arsene was brilliant because he was making you realise this type of stuff.

“Instead of coming into the dressing room and losing my mind for no reason – I would’ve been upset and raised an argument for no reason – he made me way smarter.”