FCBARCELONA.CAT

26.07.2007 17:43

Henry Diary (III)

www.fcbarcelona.cat

In the third chapter of his diary, Thierry Henry talks about communication within the dressing room and how he’s getting on with his Catalan and Spanish. He also reveals his feelings ahead of his probable debut against Dundee United.

“Communication within the team in the first few days has been pretty easy. ‘Ronnie' and Samuel speak French and so do Yaya and, obviously, Lilian and Eric. I’m working hard on learning Spanish but I still can’t do a complete interview in that language or give meaning to my phrases. I hope to do so soon.

The important thing is that for the moment I understand well and that helps me to understand the instructions that Rijkaard gives us in training. Right now I speak French, English and a little Italian. That helps me understand Spanish a little because they’re similar but it also makes me confuse them when I try to speak, and it comes out in Italian. I don’t really know why. But you have to remember that I’ve only been here for a week. I’m trying to learn and it’ll all come in time.

As for Catalan, at the presentation I was already able to say what Cesc taught me. The coaches, physios and other team assistants all speak in Catalan and when they speak slowly I understand but when they speak fast it’s more difficult! The difficulty is that I’m trying to learn Catalan and Spanish at the same time and sometimes I confuse them. For example I always say ‘bon dia’ (Good day) in the mornings because it’s what comes out. The fact is I don’t know many more words in Catalan – the typical words such as ‘molt bé’ (very good), ‘moltes gràcies’ (thank you very much), ‘adéu’ (Goodbye)... I think the important thing above all is to know well the culture of the place you’re going to play.

Apart from that, I’m together in Saint Andrews with a lot of young players from the youth ranks. I haven’t had the chance to talk in any depth with them yet, precisely because I still don’t speak good Spanish. But I’d already seen Bojan win the European under-16 (with Fran Mérida, who was with me at Arsenal) and Giovani in the under-17 World Cup and I already knew they were great players. The fact is, just like the rest of the young players, if they’re here it’s because they’re good. But the only thing I can tell them is to go ahead with their dreams; they’ve got the quality and the rest in the mentality.

Tonight we have the match against Dundee United, my debut, and I’m ready for it. I’m always ready. But I also have to say that right now the most important thing for me is to know how long I’ll play for, after five months without playing. What I want to do is play and not get injured, and if in addition everything goes well that’s an extra. I want to play football again but taking it a bit at a time. In the next chapter of my diary I’ll be able to explain how it went!

See you tomorrow

Thierry Henry"

Previous chapters: I and II