Thierry Henry Discusses Arsenal, Chelsea Metro Incident on 'Jonathan Ross Show'
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show on Saturday, discussing life in England and why he chose to join the Gunners all those years ago while also touching on the topic of racism in football, specifically the incident involving Chelsea fans in a Paris metro.
The show released a preview from the taping a few days ago in which Henry already made it clear he would love to coach the Gunners one day but needs to obtain the necessary experience first, via the Mirror's Ed Malyon (h/t Bleacher Report UK):
His love for Arsenal has never been questioned, and on Saturday, he revealed why he chose to join the Gunners in the first place. Playing his football for Juventus at the time, he was in awe of Arsene Wenger and legendary striker Ian Wright. He also admitted he had loved the Arsenal kit since childhood.
On top of that, English fans are apparently a lot less aggressive to their own players than fans in Italy:
Henry even suggested Italian fans will confront players after matches and during training to look for a fight, whereas English fans are passionate but give space.
Jonathan Ross asked Henry about the incident involving Chelsea fans in a Paris metro station after their Champions League match against PSG, where a black man was denied entry into a train by the fans before they started chanting a racially motivated song, via the BBC.
Henry immediately pointed out the club can not be held responsible for such behaviour before explaining the problem is very difficult to deal with. He himself experienced racist taunts toward him by opposing fans during his playing career and expressed his desire for a zero-tolerance policy:
Finally, there was room for some light-hearted banter, when he told Ross he often gets respect from fans of opposing clubs when walking the streets of England—except for some Tottenham Hotspur fans—and discussed his relationship with Gary Neville, a bitter rival turned colleague as a Sky Sports pundit.
In typical fashion, the host also had to make a joke about Henry's strong French accent:
The formidable striker was in excellent spirits and seemed perfectly happy in his current capacity as a Sky Sports pundit, but his connection with the Gunners is evident in every word he speaks.
When Wenger does decide to call it a career, you can be sure Arsenal fans will be begging the former striker to take over as manager, and if this latest interview is any indication, the feeling is certainly mutual.
