King Henry I of Highbury

Awards are special and Arsenal's man for all season deserves one, says his team-mate Robert Pires – a winner this time last year

Robert Pires has won almost every major competition in the game, yet ask him which trophy he most cherishes and the World Cup, European Championship, Premiership and FA Cup winner singles out an individual honour of no real value. Forget all the other high-profile medals, the one that really matters to Pires is the Football Writers' Player of the Year award he collected 12 months ago. "It is the ultimate accolade," he says, "because it picks out the one person who has stood out most within a team sport."

For Pires, that man this year has been Thierry Henry, the warmest of favourites to be named the Professional Football Association's Footballer of the Year – voted for by the players – today. Henry, in the image of Arsenal, is having to fend off a recent surge by Ruud van Nistelrooy and his Manchester United team-mates. Just like the championship, though, Player of the Year awards are the recompense for an entire season's work, not just a late flourish – Henry to a T.

"He's had what I would describe as a really strong season," Pires says, "and that is the biggest compliment I can pay him. It would be easy to just say that a player has been spectacular or unbeatable, but that is not the reality of a season in English football.

"To be the best player in the toughest league in the world, you have to be strong, both mentally and physically. It is no good playing well when it's hot or when there are big games, you have to be at your best throughout the year. That is the most difficult thing to do for a player, and yet that is what Titi has done."

No one at Arsenal is particularly surprised by Manchester United's resurgence, nor by the fact that the title race will probably go to the wire. By the same token, it is generally accepted that the team have not been firing on all cylinders in the past few weeks. Most of the key players have suffered from injury, tiredness or, worse still, lack of discipline. Most, that is, apart from Henry. "There are times when a team are not quite on song, or things are not happening for you," Pires explains, "and that is when the player of the year steps out of the shadows to take control."

Pires has been particularly impressed with Henry's ability to move up a gear when Arsenal need him most. "I remember the Champions' League match away to Roma, when we were a goal down and looked in trouble, then suddenly Titi raises his game and scores an unbelievable hat-trick. You just don't do that to Roma in the Olympic stadium."

Nor do you collect the ball on the edge of your own box, sprint up the field, evade four challenges, and then score with your supposed weaker left foot against the local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. "That strike will probably win goal of the season," Pires suggests, "because it had everything in terms of control, pace, strength and vision. But my favourite is actually the one Titi scored against Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-final [when Henry pivoted with the ball at his feet before beating Carlo Cudicini]. It may have looked easy, but I can tell you that it requires an enormous amount of skill. From a technical point of view, that goal will take a lot of beating for some time."

Whether it be scoring goals or making them, Henry has become a vital cog in the smooth Arsenal machine. David Seaman and Sol Campbell give the solidity, Patrick Vieira provides the drive and Dennis Bergkamp sprinkles the magic, but it is Henry who is the key. "Titi is at the heart of all our moves," Pires explains. "In training, he features prominently, because his input is required for almost every tactical situation. The team can function without him, but is always better with him. He has a huge influence, which is why he has played in virtually every single game this season."

Neither Pires nor Henry are easily overawed, and yet last year's Player of the Year insists such an award – the football writers' accolade will be announced in the week before the FA Cup final – represents the pinnacle of a footballer's career. "I thought nothing would ever better the feeling I had when my team-mates were all on their knees in front of me [in a Wayne's World style tribute when Arsenal were given the Premiership trophy] at the end of last season," Pires says, "but then to receive praise from journalists was the ultimate accolade. It proved that I really had the best season of my life, and that is something unique.

"As a player, you probably only reach that sort of peak once in your career, so it's important to sit back for a second and take it all in. I know that if Titi wins an award, it will mean an awful lot to him."

Pires feels that receiving the individual prize is all the more special for a foreigner. "I think that to win the award in England you have to have shown that you really are the best player in the League over the course of 10 months," he says. "You can't just turn up and play well when it suits you. Fans and journalists expect a consistency of performance that is far superior to France, Italy, or even Spain. There is a natural suspicion of foreign players, so we have to prove ourselves even more."

Pires adds: "Like Titi, when I first arrived in England [in the summer of 2000], virtually nobody had ever heard of me. And, like Titi, I guess I've had to work doubly hard, first to learn the game here and then to be accepted by the public. It's the ultimate test of character for a player."

The comparison with Henry is apt. Both men came to England on the back of success with their country but comparative failure at club level. Both were also desperate for stability, following back-to-back moves. "We had both achieved a lot, and yet we both still had so much to learn," Pires recalls. "Titi and I never knew it before joining Arsenal, but our games needed improving. It took us a while, but I think we have got there now. We have proved ourselves, and that feels great."

Henry's adaptation was all the more difficult because he came to England alone in the autumn of 1999. "Not only that," interrupts Pires, who has been married for five years, "but Titi was also a lot younger than me. He had just made the massive leap from Monaco to Juventus and found that very difficult, only then to make an even bigger jump into the unknown by coming to Arsenal. OK, so he knew Arsène Wenger, but in terms of culture and football style, England is a million miles from the South of France. I think that makes his achievements all the more incredible. This guy is a winner."

Henry is also a close friend of Pires, which explains why the Frenchman is extra keen to see his compatriot suitably rewarded. "Actually," he smiles, "what I really want is for Titi to do like me and be crowned in a season when Arsenal win the League and Cup. Then it really would be the ultimate double double."