Sometimes in football you have to score goals.
Thierry Henry
I'm obsessed by the idea of making my mark on history. And Arsenal is my paradise.
To be a footballer was just a dream, and I don't believe in dreams. I only deal in what is real. To be honest, I've never thought about what I could get out of football or where it would take me. I just wanted to play. I'm the same now.
I always think about what I missed, and I think that was my driving force - never be satisfied with what I've done.
But the moment I've got a ball at my feet, I'm happy.
The only thing I won't watch is darts. And I don't watch cricket. How can you like a game that requires you to take four days off work to follow a Test? And I don't really like golf. I know a lot of English footballers play, but I know that if I go with the club to play, sooner or later I will end up trying to smash the ball with my foot.
To say that my dad pushed me is an understatement. I was never naturally drawn to football.
In New York it seems like there's no Monday or Saturday or Sunday. The town is always moving. The vibe is great.
So few people recognize me, I can do what anyone does.
And I don't watch cricket. How can you like a game that requires you to take four days off work to follow a Test?
So when I go home, sometimes, even when I had an amazing game, I always think about what I missed.
I don't like to plan anything.
My dad always taught me to never be satisfied: to want more and know that what is done is done. That was his way of seeing the game. You've done it, now move on. People might say, 'Well, when can you enjoy it?' But it worked for me because, in the game, you need to be on your toes.
I have to say that when I was young, when any politician was talking I wasn't even interested. Maybe they were saying some nice stuff, but then if you put Michael Jordan on TV, I was interested!
I am more than proud to be European. I love Europe, I love France, but I have an American mentality, and I don't know why. The way I see things, the way I talk, I'm the kind of person who, if I want to say something, I will say it - sometimes in Europe, it's not always what you need to do.
But, at the moment, when I step on the pitch, when I have the ball I know it's mine. It's just a feeling.
I always have a football handy at home, and I'll play with it. Sometimes it'll get on my wife's nerves. But the moment I've got a ball at my feet, I'm happy.
And I don't really like golf. I know a lot of English footballers play, but I know that if I go with the club to play, sooner or later I will end up trying to smash the ball with my foot.
But one thing you need to do in the game, is to adapt and adjust your game to what you have been asked to do and also to what your body is telling you to do.
You learn from your mistakes.
My dad always taught me to never be satisfied, to want more and know that what is done is done.
So many people say that obviously my game has changed since I arrived here and I say that it's good that it changed, otherwise it would show a lack of intelligence.
People always see the goals, and for me, strikers are not only about scoring goals.
I am always honest, and I am not the sort of player to say, 'Oh, I love Arsenal' and then sign for someone else. I think if I was unhappy, I would say that, but I'm not. I do love Arsenal.
In football you always get judged on your last game. Whoever you are, or how amazing you are, it's the last game that everyone has seen.
At the beginning, you are 20 and you can just imagine... don't get me wrong, but having money. Then you realise that it's not only about you and what you are doing but that you have to give back.
The thing is, don't get me wrong, I still love scoring and I hate to lose but now I see myself more as making players play better. Sometime you do what you have to do and you have to perform, that is still there, but in my mind I am thinking about making the guys around me play better and that is never an easy thing to do.
When I was younger I was trying to do what I wanted to do, not what the game wanted me to do.
I may be French, but I'm playing for Arsenal.
It's difficult to talk about Pele because I didn't see him.
It was tough at the time but when I was younger, my Dad. I would say my Dad, because without him I wouldn't have been here. I mean it was tough for me because he was really demanding. With him, it was never enough, you know, anything I did was never enough.
That's the way I've been educated: I always think about what I missed and the things that you did, you did them, so you don't have to think about them any more.
Because that's just the way it is, and don't sleep on what you did before, you know, because it can... not hurt you, but you can find yourself sleeping on something that happened in the past, but you dare to progress and there is always room for progression.
At the end of the day, you either want or you don't want to know about it. It's a mercy thing - you have to give back. However you do it, you have to give something back. You have to.
When I was 20 or 21, I didn't... I won't say care about anything, but you're like in your own world - you made something that you always wanted to do, and then you kind of think only about your family and yourself.
Politicians are there to try to deal with stuff, but sometimes it's both fortunate and unfortunate that people like us have more... not involvement, but more power in the stuff that we say.
Baseball and American football and hockey are all ahead because they have a history. The MLS is kind of new. So hopefully, in time, and with players coming and trying to develop the game, and the U.S. team also doing well - at the last World Cup, they finished above England and created some buzz.
No, because retiring is stopping. If I wanted to stop, I would have stopped.
I only deal in what is real. To be honest, I've never thought about what I could get out of football or where it would take me. I just wanted to play. I'm the same now.
That is something that I always want to do when I arrive somewhere is to know about the culture of the country, about the club and make sure I know what it takes to wear the jersey.
I am a believer in passing the ball on the ground, I was lucky to be part of teams like that at Arsenal, with the French national team and with Monaco and at Barcelona. I know you can win in other ways, but I believe that is the way football should be played.
I've always loved New York; I've been visiting New York since 1996. People don't look at you like, 'What are you doing? What are you wearing?' There is also that thing that when people know that you have worked hard to get something, people have that respect for that here. You worked hard - good for you.
I've followed the NBA religiously since I was a kid, and now because of my boy Tony Parker, I'm a huge Spurs fan.
