Henry: Arsenal Rely on the Team; Fabregas Has the Ability to Coach Top Clubs

According to The Athletic, Henry believes Arsenal do not need to rely excessively on superstar signings, with team cohesion, a clear system and player execution being the key to sustained success. He also praised Fabregas' coaching ability shown at Como.

Henry discussed the crazy deals made when the summer transfer window closed last week. Premier League clubs invested heavily to chase defending champions Arsenal, with total market spending reaching billions of euros.

Arsenal also pursued Real Madrid's Vinicius and Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, but eventually sold Gabriel Martinelli, Jesus and Trossard, while loaning Nwaneri until the end of the season. Despite that, Arsenal spent €40 million on 24-year-old winger Tzolis, leaving the attack with two fewer players.

Last season, Arteta's team won the Premier League title and reached the Champions League final. Many fans wanted Arsenal to add more stars to help the north London side enter a period of long-term dominance. But the former Arsenal player does not share that view. Henry made the comments before returning to the studio for CBS Sports' Champions League coverage this week.

The Premier League continues to change, with more than half of the 20 teams having changed managers this year. Players are also moving between clubs more frequently. Henry believes stability is Arsenal's advantage.

The success of several of football's top teams over the past two seasons has also influenced him. Spain won the World Cup without relying on a group of household-name stars, while Paris Saint-Germain under Enrique moved away from focusing on individual celebrities and prioritized the collective, conquering Europe for two consecutive seasons.

“People always focus on names and the transfer window and say, ‘Oh my God, this person will change my club!’” Henry said in a video call last week. “No, what changes a club is the team, cohesion, identity, a coach who knows what to do, and 11 players willing to run, no matter what their names are.”

“Sometimes we easily fall into the idea of ‘go and buy that player, he will change the club.’ It is easy to say Paris Saint-Germain are a great team now. Two years ago, when players including Mbappe, Neymar and Messi left, everyone wondered, ‘Oh my God, what will they do next?’”

“Then they brought in Barcola and Doue. Nobody expected them to achieve what they later achieved. But Enrique knew exactly how he wanted to play, so they did it. Do you remember what PSG's 2025 Ballon d'Or winner, French forward Dembele, said? He said, ‘If you do not run at PSG, you are out.’ It is that simple.”

“If you look at Arsenal, there was no attacking midfielder or forward from them in last season's Premier League best XI. But they are a team.”

“People might ask, who is the player on the left, is it Baena? Or who is Oyarzabal? Spain allowed opponents only 10 shots on target throughout the tournament. They made France and Argentina look like ordinary teams in the semifinals and final.”

“Nobody can know the outcome of transfers, but I know everyone needs to run, the coach needs to build a clear identity, and the plan must make players willing to accept and execute it.”

At Arsenal, Henry sees a group of players not affected by ego or dressing-room status. He highlighted that Eze caused Tottenham major problems in both home and away matches last season and scored five goals across the two games, while also accepting that he sometimes had to start from the bench.

“When you know who the key figures are, it becomes easier for a team to unite. If the team itself is the core, it is even simpler. Once everyone knows the system allows them to perform, they will execute and follow it.”

“Look at how Paris Saint-Germain press opponents, they are almost impossible to stop. But Enrique needed around five or six months to make that team truly work. People forget that players must be willing to accept what the coach asks, which is a very important factor that is rarely discussed.”

“If you are a coach and your players are willing to do everything you ask while having some ability, you can achieve great things. If they resist even slightly, things become much harder.”

Arsenal have not made a headline-grabbing signing since last season, but that does not worry Henry too much. He believes the current squad still has more potential to unlock.

Henry wants Saka to score 15 goals and provide 15 assists in all competitions this season, a target the England international has never achieved before. Saka came closest in 2023-24, scoring 20 goals and providing 14 assists. However, despite Arsenal's strong start, Henry warned against drawing conclusions too early.

Henry expects Chelsea and Manchester City, under new managers Xabi Alonso and Maresca, to need more time before showing their best form, especially after both clubs experienced major changes recently.

He recalled that at the same point last year, defending champions Liverpool won their first five league matches under Slot.

“Everyone was saying, ‘Liverpool know how to win, I cannot see why they cannot win again.’ Two weeks later, things changed dramatically for many reasons. They did not buy players, yet they won the league title in Slot's 2024-25 season. Then they started signing players and the team collapsed.”

“So when people ask me, ‘Who are the challengers and competitors? Do you think if that player went there they could challenge?’ I say, ‘Wait. Let Maresca work, let Xabi Alonso work.’”

“Because I have been a coach. People say to me, ‘Thierry, you only coached for one and a half minutes.’ But even so, building a team in two weeks during the Olympics is not easy. A team that had never played together before and would never play together again had to build an identity and ideas in two weeks. That is why I say let coaches work first, then we see the results.”

CBS Sports' Champions League coverage this season will feature host Kate Scott and studio guests Carragher and Richards, with Henry reuniting with them. The program will spend significant time covering first-time Champions League participants Como and may travel for on-site reports in the future.

The Italian team qualified for the Champions League under Henry's former Arsenal teammate Fabregas.

Henry and Fabregas both invested in Como in 2022, when the club was still in Serie B. Fabregas joined as a player that year, later coached the U19 team and then took charge of the first team. Como were promoted to Serie A in 2024 and finished fourth in the league this May with the best defensive record in Serie A.

In the third Champions League match week in mid-October, Como will host Manchester United. Later, during the league phase running until the end of January with each team playing eight matches, Como will also travel to face Fabregas' hometown club Barcelona, where Henry also played.

Henry compared Como's rise with Leicester City's story, although Como have not yet achieved a similar Premier League title fairy tale. It should be noted that Fabregas and Henry share the same agent.

“But I will be honest,” Henry said. “Fabregas is excellent and he has kept improving. I saw him emerge at Arsenal at 16, controlling midfield and training against Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva. A 16-year-old who can do that is not foolish, so you know he is a thoughtful person.”

Henry said there was a period when he worried Fabregas might become “that stubborn guy” who sticks too strongly to his coaching principles and ultimately affects a club's development.

Como play a very bold style, emphasizing possession and pressing. But Henry believes Fabregas has also shown flexibility.

“Fabregas should now be the hottest name on the market among coaches outside the elite giants,” Henry added. “It is the result of his hard work. He started coaching young players, became an assistant coach when the team was promoted, and then took charge.”

“If you look at our current starting lineup and last season's starting lineup, I do not think many people could name a lot of the players. But we are still a team, which returns to what I said before. The players we brought in can accept the way Fabregas likes to play.”

“Fabregas can go further. There is something special about him. When a coach speaks, players respond, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’ like Ferguson or Mourinho. You wonder, ‘How does he make players execute like that?’ Besides that, he is very intelligent. He understands games and manages them well.”

Henry is not involved in Como's daily operations. The club's affairs are handled by an Indonesian investment group led by Mirwan Suwarso. Located by a scenic lake in northern Italy, Como's investors have used the location's appeal to build a popular brand image around shirts and clothing.

“As young people would say, there is a special flavor to it,” Henry said.

As an investor, how much will Henry be involved in Como? He said he initially did not want to interfere too much because he would have been frustrated if other voices constantly intervened during his coaching spells at Monaco in France and Montreal in MLS.

“I played with Fabregas, so our relationship is closer and we talk about players. But he is the coach. I will not call after a game and ask, ‘Why did you set it up that way?’ When Fabregas calls me for my view on a match, I tell him. More often, it is support. He also calls to discuss whether we should pursue a player. I give my opinion, but I will not say, ‘You must do this.’”

“I have been a coach. If someone is always watching over your shoulder, you may get annoyed and think, ‘Can I just work in peace?’ But I see it from another angle: who helps the person who helps others? Everyone asks things from coaches, fans, sponsors and players. So who helps coaches? Sometimes you just need to sit down and listen, because that person also needs to talk.”

“Who thinks about how coaches feel? People forget coaches are also ordinary people. You will not see players knock on a coach's door and ask, ‘Coach, are you okay?’ No. They usually only ask, ‘Why did I not play yesterday?’ But Fabregas does not need much help.”