Thierry Henry now opens up on what it took to reach the top at Arsenal

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has now revealed what it took the France icon to make it to the top of the game up against Dennis Bergkamp under Arsene Wenger at Highbury.

The Gunners broke the bank in August 1999 to bring Henry to north London in a club-record transfer from Juventus. Wenger paid the Italian giants £11m to land the forward who helped Les Bleus lift the 1998 World Cup. He also arrived after David Suker joined from Real Madrid.

Wenger moved in the market to revamp Arsenal’s frontline with the cash raised from selling Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid. The Gunners’ iconic manager saw an opportunity to snap up Henry after he fell out of favour in Turin when Carlo Ancelotti took charge of the Bianconeri.

Thierry Henry remains Arsenal’s only Ballon d’Or contender

Henry spent just a matter of months with Juventus after leaving AS Monaco in January 1999. Yet his move to north London handed the attacker a chance to become an Arsenal legend at Highbury. His time in the English capital ended with a transfer to FC Barcelona in June 2007.

Camp Nou chiefs fluttered £16m to sign a 29-year-old Henry, who finished third in the Ballon d’Or voting in 2006 and second in 2003. He also still remains the sole Arsenal player to finish in the top three places. Pavel Nedved pipped him in 2002 and Fabio Cannavaro won it in ‘06.

Henry left north London for Barcelona as Arsenal’s record goalscorer with 226 in 370 games. He briefly returned to the Gunners on loan from New York Red Bulls in 2012 and fired twice in seven appearances. No player is yet to eclipse Henry’s goal record of 228 in 377 matches.

Thierry Henry’s name still dominates Arsenal’s record books

Arsenal’s record books also still show Henry as the club’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League and leagues (175), in Europe overall (42) and in the Champions League (35), too. He took 181 games to reach 100 goals in all competitions. The forward also had nine hat-tricks.

Henry’s efforts at Highbury further helped Arsenal win the Premier League in 2001/02 and 2003/04. He also lifted the FA Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2005. While the Gunners reached the Champions League final for the first, and only, time in Arsenal’s history with Henry in 2006.

What did it take Thierry Henry to make it to the top?

Yet when Henry arrived from Juventus, the France hero admits he questioned how he would oust Bergkamp, Suker and Nwankwo Kanu to get into the Arsenal line-up. The 123-cap Bleus icon has now opened up to CBS Sports about what it took him to make it to the top, noting:

“How can I play? How am I going to put Dennis Bergkamp, Nwankwo Kanu, David Suker or whoever on the bench? Like, how am I going to do that? So, I went back home or to the hotel wherever I was and I started to try to beat them at everything that they were doing.

“Everything. Dennis Bergkamp used to arrive first in training. So, this guy won everything already, player of the season, he’s there every morning before me. Am I missing a point?

“He’s doing everything – the drills, he does them to the tee. Sometimes I would [mess] around. Ball comes, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. The ninth time, you try to flick one, turn around and flick it. Dennis Bergkamp, control, pass, control, pass.

“And I’m looking at him and I’m like, ok. Scores a goal, I used to score two and look at him. Then he looks at me back and he scores two and I have to score. I was trying to match them in everything that they were doing. Then you have to deliver on the field.

‘Have to take the keys away from Dennis Bergkamp’

“You have to take that free-kick also away from Dennis Bergkamp. You have to take the penalty away from Dennis Bergkamp. [And] you have to take the keys away from Dennis Bergkamp. How do you do that? From not coming on the field, how do you do that?

“You never won there, he won. He’s a god there. How do you move that guy? So, man, I woke up early every morning and I had to show him the best respect I could pay the guy is show him I was better than him every day in training.

“The way you eat your salad, I’m going to eat that better than you. The way you walk, I’m going to walk better than you. You look at me, I’m going to look at you better than you look at me. Then he gave me the key. It took a little while but then he gave me the key.”