Greatness in footballers can be detected even over the phone, according to Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's manager. Those players truly touched by the gods will love the game so much that if you call them, tell them to drop everything and come over for a kick-about, they will be there in a shot. When Wenger rings Thierry Henry at home, the chances are that the Footballer of the Year will already be juggling a ball.

For the man leading the stylish, high-speed charge at Liverpool's defence today, football is not a profession but a passion. "Whenever I'm at home, I always have a ball around," reflected Henry yesterday. "I learnt that from Edgar Davids when I was at Juventus. I used to go round his house in Italy and he would be on the phone, talking away and doing tricks with the ball.

"I looked at him and would think, 'He's crazy'. Now I do the same. I have to kick the ball around the home. Even in the narrow corridor at my house, I'm always trying to dribble past my friends. I once broke a glass in the house but one breakage in five years isn't bad. I just love to play.

"I know I will finish playing one day and I'm going to miss the big games, the joy of the dressing room, so I want to enjoy every minute of football now. The most important thing is to enjoy the game and respect it. So many people don't respect the game any more."

Ever since growing up in a poor suburb of Paris, a love of football and a will to win have coursed through Henry. "I love the competition. When I was younger, I would go and play football with friends in the park. I would enjoy it but if I didn't win, I would come back home at night and think '****'. I would tell myself, 'We lost. Tomorrow, I'll go back to the park and win'.

"Even now, I try to play football like I'm in the park. People say I'm arrogant because I take a penalty a certain way against Newcastle last week [chipped down the middle]. It's not arrogance. It's me. It's instinctive. It's what we did in the park. I never think about money. I have never, ever gone on the pitch, thinking, 'I have to win to get the bonus'. I don't care about the bonus. I just care about the game. When a friend comes to the match, I want to talk to him afterwards and say, 'Did you see when I did that step-over?' or, 'Did you see me put the ball through that guy's legs?'."

Henry admires those who pass the Wenger test of hunger for the game. "You can be the best player on the ball but if you don't have the desire, it means nothing. People talk all day about Zinedine Zidane having two great feet but they don't talk about the main thing: his desire. At Arsenal, we also have that commitment."

Resilience is a trait long associated with Highbury; the importance of excelling in that famous red-and-white strip is handed down from generation to generation. "When I arrived here, I was playing with Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Tony Adams and they gave that legacy to me without even knowing. It's difficult to explain. It's Arsenal. It's the history of the club; it doesn't allow you to accept difficult times. The record shows it best: whenever we're in difficulty, we always respond well."

Leading teams and their stars always do. Harsh headlines elicit defiance. "Big players and big teams get criticised. When ManU lost against Stuttgart, it was a big thing. When Arsenal lose, people go, 'Bloody hell, Arsenal lost!'. Like with ManU, it's because it's rare. I can't go home and cry, 'Oh, do you see what people are saying about us?' I respond on the pitch."

Great players react in great ways. "There are a lot of people with great mentalities at Liverpool and ManU, players who have desire. Players like Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard, who can put their foot in and have vision others don't. Like Patrick [Vieira], you can leave them alone in midfield and they will handle situations. Those players are vital."

One opponent's name invariably crops up in Henry's conversation. Paul Scholes is the sort of player who would be down the park with his friends, who loves football for the sport more than the spoils. "People don't rate Scholes as they should," enthused Henry. "For me, he's the best English player by far. He's miles better than anyone else. He scores, has vision and puts his foot in.

"You ask Patrick which central midfielder he most dislikes playing against and he will tell you, 'Paul Scholes'. No one else. He's always moving, always creating. Would he get in the French team? Well, we have a lot of players . . . but he's the best player I've seen since coming to England."

It was lost amid all the hype and hullabaloo following Arsenal's run-in with United almost a fortnight ago but last week, before kick-off against Newcastle, Henry was presented with a Professional Footballers' Association-sponsored player-of-the-year award voted on by fans from all clubs. "It's because he shows fair behaviour with all his opponents," Wenger said yesterday.

For Henry, fairness is a way of life. "So many people talk about players diving. I try to play the game as fair as I can. It's not easy. I've lost my temper once in my life, against Newcastle last season. That can happen. I'm a human being. I'm not a hero. I'm not Superman. But sometimes it gets difficult when there's an injustice against me, when people kick me.

"It's difficult to take when you know the defender came only to take your leg and not the ball. But it's really rare that you see me having a go back at someone for a sly tackle on me. I know the game can be tricky and hard but I still love it. I can't only love football when it's nice.

"I can never remember diving. Sometimes I should have but I didn't because it's against the spirit of the game. Against Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday, I had the ball, ran past three players, got kicked once, twice, three times and still tried to carry on because my aim is not to get a free kick, it's to go for goal. I love and respect the game too much to go down."

It is about principles learned early. "I'm trying to be like my parents wanted me to be. My dad was really strict with me over my football and my mum educated me to have manners. When I hear people talk about young people not showing respect, not being polite, I always think to myself, 'That has to start with the parents'.

"My parents showed me how to behave in life. The world is so strange now; people are surprised if you open the door for them or say 'hello'. Sometimes I sit at home and speak about fame with my friends. I don't understand it. We go to a full restaurant, my friends go in first and nobody looks at them. I step in and it's, 'Do you want a table?' Why? I haven't changed; it's people who have changed towards me."

His strong character and upbringing have helped Henry through difficult times. Leaving a run-down neighbourhood for Monaco "wasn't easy". He added: "Monaco was a completely different environment from where I came from. There is the casino, money everywhere, beautiful women everywhere, unbelievable cars. But when I left home, I had one aim: putting the name of my family really high."

He inspires respect as a man as well as a player. As well as his family, Henry wants to make Wenger proud as well. "I will never forget that Arsene and Arsenal gave me a hand and brought me here when I was really low at Juventus. OK, I had won the World Cup, but people were saying, 'He's only an OK player'. I want to pay them back." With every goal, with every plaudit from opposing supporters, Henry shows his greatness, doing Arsenal and his family proud.

2 October 2003: United failings are exposed by German muscle
1 October 2003: Arsenal fire blanks in Russian stalemate
29 September 2003: Arsenal under great scrutiny
27 September 2003: Henry leads the resistance
27 September 2003: Pendulum swings towards United
19 May 2003: Henry theatricals expose dark side of human nature
29 April 2003: Henry's brave face at awards