Thierry Henry gave a pep talk to Bournemouth players ahead of Arsenal’s game against the Cherries, according to Eddie Howe.

Henry made the trip to the south coast on behalf of the French Football Federation, and Howe said he gave a great talk to Arsenal’s weekend opposition.

“We got Thierry in to talk to the players as we do from time to time with various people, not just footballers,” said the Bournemouth manager (via Mirror).

“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.

“There were a lot of things in there. If it is just one thing a player finds inspiring then it is beneficial.

Arsenal039s Thierry Henry C is congratulated by te
(Photo credit Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)

“It was interesting to see how the players reacted to what he said. Hopefully they took something away, not just for now but for the future.”

Ryan Fraser also spoke to the media about the talk. He recalled: “We were in a meeting and were told we had a special guest coming in. Then Thierry Henry walked in and 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 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.”

Henry is developing a bit of a habit for giving advice to Arsenal’s opponents.

He regularly works with Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard with Belgium, as he’s assistant manager of the country. Then he’s on Sky Sports analysing players and interviewing the likes of Harry Kane.

Jamie Redknapp
HULL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Sky Sports presenters Thierry Henry and Jamie Redknapp during the Premier League match between Hull City and Leicester City at KC Stadium on August 13, 2016 in Hull, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)

Now he’s in the Bournemouth dressing room giving them career advice.

There’s not much the Gunners legend can do to avoid doing so. After all, it’s his job. It’d be nice if he were working for and advising Arsenal players instead, though.

Perhaps that’s something for the board to look into, although the 40-year-old already rejected them once. The Gunners tried to hire him as coach of the u18 side, but wanted him to give up his role at Sky Sports.

The club record goalscorer wasn’t willing to do that.