Henry must learn to be King again

WHEN Thierry Henry announced this week that he'd like to manage Arsenal, the instinctive reaction of many was to say: be careful what you wish for.
Having hung up his vroom-vroom boots for the comfortable upholstery of TV punditry, the France and Gunners legend is following a well-trodden path and, at £4million (RM21.92m) a year, a well-remunerated one as well. Now 37, it looks like another smart move by an ultra-smart product from the wrong side of the Parisian tracks.
Clairefontaine, Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona and New York are distinguished stopping places on a triumphant sweep through the game in which he's won everything and hardly put a metatarsal wrong. His biggest offence was the hand-ball against Ireland in the World Cup qualifier.
Lucky enough to have been born into France's golden generation and win the World Cup on home soil, he was the star of Arsenal's Invincibles; and when he couldn't win the Champions League there, he decamped to win it with Barcelona before finally topping up his pension in the Big Apple.
It would be a pretty hard act to follow if it were measured solely by the number of trophies won and sheer weight of goals scored, but with Henry that is only half the story: it was the coruscating elan with which he played the game that elevates him above the ranks of the merely great.
His blinding early pace and Velcro control afforded him so many options: he could be both majestic forward presence and high-class pickpocket; bamboozling dribbler or scorching scimitar to the doughtiest defenders. And he knew it: he had the arrogance and Gallic shrug to match which is why adoration for him is some distance short of universal. His goal celebrations were of the 'rub their noses in it' category and why many opponents took umbrage.
Ironically, it is in his native France where reservations about him are most commonly harboured. Despite his scoring more goals (51 in 123 matches) for them than anyone else, had "not always been appreciated for his true worth," according to Frederic Thiriez, the chairman of the French League.
Raymond Domenech, the former France coach, added his two centimes' worth by saying: "Thierry Henry has a problem with France. He is seen as haughty, but that doesn't correspond to the reality. Thierry Henry was shy and a tormented soul. In France, people don't like that."
Those of us who saw him in Malaysia at the World Youth Cup in 1997 would certainly vouch for his shyness. He was a mere stripling back then and looked as if he could do with a decent meal, but he had pace to burn and you could see he was going to be some player.
While the British press fell over themselves to laud him, the French worked up quite a lather in trying to explain what they deemed a desamour between player and nation. Emmanuel Petit, who played with Henry for club and country, was especially outraged over the perceived antipathy to his former teammate.
"France is hypocritical and cowardly," he fumed. "Sometimes, I think that we would be better off today if we had been invaded by the Germans." He then had to apologise to quell the inevitable storm his memory lapse provoked.
The truth is that Henry, who played almost his entire career outside La Belle France, had never bothered to cultivate the French media – unlike the British which at times appeared to eat out of his hand. Indeed, it was the love-in Henry and Fleet Street had that led to his biggest problem. According to the news portal 20 minutes: "He has always preferred England".
That, at least in the eyes of his compatriots, is perhaps his cardinal sin. But he would not be alone in having struggled for proper recognition in his homeland after a career abroad. Even Lionel Messi could tell him about that.
So we can say, in that regard at least, Henry is wise to suggest Arsenal before Monaco or Paris St. Germain as a club to take charge of. Arsenal fans adore him, having rated him their best ever player, but that in itself would raise expectations to Messianic levels.
The list of great players who have become great managers is never going to trouble even the most limited attention span and Arsenal's, as we've seen lately, are not the easiest fans to please.
It may grant him an extended honeymoon but if he's thinking of following Arsene Wenger, he should ring up David Moyes. Succeeding a legend is nigh on impossible – it is the James Bond theory and no one wants to be George Lazenby. Better to let someone else take that role and then be Roger Moore.
Adding further doubt to what may seem a dream career move is whether punditry will afford him the opportunity to acquire even rudimentary management skills. Henry is blessed with high intelligence and you'd hope he'll figured that out. Sitting on a panel of old pros is hardly the ideal apprenticeship for one of life's trickier assignments.
He only has to look at where some of the top names cut their managerial teeth – Fergie at East Fife, Wenger at AS Cannes, Clough at Hartlepool, Shankly at Carlisle. But somehow you can't see Thierry Henry slumming it at Scunthorpe or Rochdale. But that's where he needs to go – and then we might take his wish more seriously.