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A Thierry Special Game For Loic
Written by Newcastle Utd
For Loic Remy, facing his hero Thierry Henry's former club makes Sunday's game against Arsenal even bigger
By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor
As a young boy in Rillieux-la-Pape, France, Loic Remy watched in awe as Thierry Henry lit up the Premier League for Arsenal - and dreamed of one day playing in England's top flight.
When Newcastle take on the Gunners on Sunday, it promises to be one of the most exciting fixtures of the season but it has extra significance for Remy who, like Henry, is of Martinique heritage and wears the number 14.
Remy is United's top scorer this term with ten goals and has already been compared to Henry - who remains the North London club's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals - for his speed and clinical finishing.
And, speaking to nufcTV, he said: "It's true, he was one of my idols when I was growing up so it's quite a special match for me, I have to admit.
"But you need to remember that every game is important for us - especially these massive games like on Sunday where you've got two really top teams going against each other.
"That's where you see the best and the men sort themselves out from the boys.
"I think we're definitely improving match by match but we can't give up on that; we know Sunday's going to be even harder for us. I think if we can go out and do well against Arsenal, it will be fantastic.
"It will be a really hard game - however I think Arsenal also will be a little bit scared of us when they look at our position and how well we're playing at the moment."
While Arsenal sit at the top of the table, Newcastle are the country's form team with seven wins from their last nine matches.
The latest victory was the 5-1 Boxing Day battering of Stoke, where Remy scored twice having failed to find the net in his previous five outings.
"It was really important for me to get the goals to get that confidence up there again," he said. "I missed the penalty but it was a small glitch and I went straight back out there and reacted and got the goal.
"I didn't want to ever give up. I couldn't really drop my shoulders or drop my head and let it get me down. It happens to us all - we miss some chances, but we needed to react and I needed to react and that's what we did.
"It's true, there's a moment when doubts start coming into your head but I wasn't too worried. I knew it would come. I wasn't sure when, but I knew it would come. I play in this team where I get fantastic service; people always give me great balls into the box so I knew it would come straight back.
"In adversity you have to be able to react, you have to be able to face up to difficult times. But I got those two good goals and hopefully in the rest of the season I'll be able to get some more."
Click here to watch the full nufcTV interview with Loic Remy