Confessions, tears welling up in your eyes… It is rare to see Thierry Henry so expounding on his story. In an interview with the podcast “The Diary OF A CEO”, broadcast this Monday, the current coach of the French Espoirs explained “the difficulties” he went through so that we better understand the current Thierry Henry. The former Arsenal legend looked back on his childhood, the complicated relationship with his father and the bouts of depression he went through.
“Titi” admits to having lived in a home where there were no “hugs”, “I love you” or “well done”, “there was not a lot of love”. “With the influence of the neighborhood, it was more ‘you’re a man, be strong, don’t cry.’ Even today, when I hug my mother, it’s weird. » He considers himself lucky, growing up, to have had “an older brother who [l’] protected. When you have a certain gift, the guys in the neighborhood know you can do something with it, they also protect you in a certain way. »
“I just wanted to please my father”
Thierry Henry also spoke of the tough education passed on by his father: “My father, the first time he held me in his arms, said to me: ‘This baby will be an incredible football player.’ And from that moment on, I was set up for success. My father took complete control of my body and it was difficult. To please the fans was to please my father. »
Asked about his mental health during his career, Thierry Henry replied that he had to go through episodes of depression, but that he never realized it, because “he did not have the tools to do it” . “But I adapted in a way. That doesn’t mean I walk straight, but I walk, I put one foot in front of the other, and that’s what I was taught since childhood. »
Henry still admitted to having experienced complicated periods after his football career, “where you can no longer put on the cape”, which protects you from the surrounding world and its problems. “My children saved me, literally. That’s when I came home [de Montréal, où il entraînait en 2020] after Covid-19 to see my children. I was getting ready to leave, and I didn’t know when I would be able to see them again with the restrictions, I said goodbye to them and everyone started crying, the nanny, my girlfriend, my children. For the first time, I “fed” on this love, I felt human. » Following this, the former striker decided to leave his position in Quebec.