Arsenal legend Thierry Henry gives Bournemouth pep talk before Gunners showdown
EDDIE HOWE hopes an inspirational chat from Thierry Henry will inspire Bournemouth to topple the Frenchman’s beloved Arsenal.
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Henry held a motivational session with Howe’s players during a recent trip to the south coast on behalf of the French Football Federation.
Howe, whose team take on Henry’s old club, 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 a really beneficial talk.
“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 a really beneficial talk
“It was interesting to see how the players reacted to what he said and hopefully they took something away not just for now but for the future.”
Henry had been sent to the Vitality Stadium to check on the progress of countryman and Bournemouth forward Lys Mousset when he was approached by Howe.
Bournemouth wide-man Ryan Fraser said: “We were in a meeting and were told we had a special guest coming in and then Thierry Henry walked in and you were like, ‘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.
“That was interesting because in football a lot of things go on behind the scenes and you don’t want people taking your spot.
“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’ll 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.”
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Bournemouth were 3-1 up on Arsenal in one of the games of last season before drawing 3-3 after a stunning late fightback from Arsene Wenger’s men.
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.”
Bournemouth will hand late fitness tests to crocked duo Junior Stanislas and Joshua King but Jermain Defoe remains sidelined with a knee injury.
