While he embraced his duties as coach of hopes, Thierry Henry is particularly happy to return to the field. “I was not fulfilled,” he said of his experience as a consultant.
After Monaco and Montreal, Thierry Henry is about to experience his third experience on a bench. The former Gunner has indeed become the new coach of the France U23 team by succeeding Sylvain Ripoll, fired after the new failure of the Bleuets at the Euro. The challenge promises to be daunting for the native of Ullis, who will be at the head of the French team at the Paris Olympic Games.
Thierry Henry’s first two experiences in coaching were not successful. He explained this on Tuesday, during his first press conference in his new role. “In Monaco, it’s a bit hard to succeed in two months. The question is legitimate, there are always doubts about a coach or a player. I had another experience in Montreal where we managed to make the playoffs in this (covid) situation”he confided, adding about his adventure in Canada in the midst of a health crisis: “I learned, there was also the Covid period (with Montreal), managing a group in a hotel for four months, without seeing your family, it forges. When you bring that back, it takes a while to convey it.”
Since his departure from the Montreal Impact, the Frenchman has not remained inactive since after resuming his role as assistant alongside Roberto Martinez at the head of the Red Devils, he also officiated as a consultant on Amazon Prime in League 1 and for CBS in the Champions League. A function that clearly left him hungry. “I was not fulfilled, I like the field. I was waiting for an opportunity. I did what I had to do to stay close to the field. I will continue but not on Amazon, it will be complicated to follow the matches.he confided, insisting: “I was not fulfilled, I needed to coach. »
Before saying yes to Les Bleuets, Thierry Henry did not miss opportunities since he had already been approached by the FFF to succeed Corinne Deacon at the head of the French women’s team and by PSG to support Julian Nagelsmann. when the latter was expected to become the new coach of the capital club. Contacts evaded by the second top scorer of the Blues. “I can’t confirm that, sorry “, he launched to kick in touch.
On the other hand, he was more forthcoming about the difficulty of training the Espoirs. “You have to pull in the same direction, it’s not a penalty selection. It’s often seen like that when clubs see their players go to Espoirs, or the players who saw themselves in A and who go down to Espoirs. There were extraordinary generations before that didn’t succeed either. We will have to create a France-U21 spirit, he insisted. We had good coaches, extraordinary generations who couldn’t go all the way. Every two years, it changes, you also have to try to create something so that you can identify with it immediately.
And if he already thinks of qualifying for Euro 2025, Thierry Henry necessarily has the Games in the back of his mind and already has a battle plan in mind to convince the clubs to release their players. “You don’t refuse that but I can understand that people think differently. We will have to have discussions, travel, see the teams for the Olympics but also to release players in U21 “, he explained, adding about the Mbappé case: “I couldn’t guide you. “We are going to have the Olympics in France, it’s very rare”he nevertheless took the trouble to recall.
