Henry told us Howe to be Top Guns
PREMIER LEAGUE PEP TALK GIVES CHERRIES A LIFT
EDDIE HOWE hopes Thierry Henry can be Bournemouth’s secret weapon against Arsenal tomorrow.
The former Gunners striker gave a pep talk to Howe’s side during a recent trip to the south coast on behalf of the French Football Federation.
Howe said: “We got Thierry in to talk to the players, as we do from time to time with various people, not just footballers.
“Thierry was excellent. He spoke at length to the players about his career and how he was so successful. It was really beneficial.
Inspiring
“It was a combination of a lot of things, definitely the mental side, his mental strength and his desire to be the best.
“There were a lot of things in there and if it is just one thing a player finds inspiring, then it is beneficial.
“It was interesting to see how the players reacted and hopefully they took something away not just for now but for the future.” ®
Henry went to the Vitality Stadium to check on the progress of Bournemouth’s French forward Lys Mousset when he was approached by Howe.
Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser said: “We were in a meeting and were told we had a special guest coming in and then Thierry Henry walked in. You were like, ‘What! Is this real?’.
“He was talking about training techniques and saying he wanted to respect his team-mates by showing he was better than them – not to make them annoyed or to frustrate them. But he felt he had to go out on the pitch and be better, to show them why he was keeping them out of the team.
“I thought that was interesting because in football a lot of things go on behind the scenes and you don’t want people taking your spot.
Best
“I didn’t know, when you’re that good a player, do you just go into training and say, ‘I’m already the best, I don’t need to show it today, I wil do it in the game on the Saturday’.
“He said, ‘No’. Every day in training he was there after – he wanted to be the best player – he wanted to show everyone that he was the best. That was good insight.”
Bournemouth were leading Arsenal 3-1 in one of the best games last season before a late fightback by Arsene Wenger’s side earned them a 3-3 draw.
Howe said: “It was a great game. For 60 or 70 minutes, it was one of our best performances in the Premier League and then you saw Arsenal’s quality late in the game.
“We are at this level on merit and no matter who you play, you have to go in believing you can win it.”