PARIS: Thierry Henry’s managerial career could hardly be starting under more challenging circumstances, with struggling Monaco leaking goals, hit by injuries and low on confidence.
The French great, who started his glittering playing career at Monaco, takes over a side sitting 18th in the top flight.
Monaco has won just once in 11 games — including two defeats in the Champions League — and the poor run cost Leonardo Jardim his job .
“The reality is morale isn’t at its highest,” Henry said ahead of the trip to Strasbourg on Saturday.
Strasbourg is ninth and the Alsace-based side is hard to beat at home.
Henry will be without No. 1 goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and No. 2 Diego Benaglio — who are nursing thigh injuries and sat out Thursday’s training session.
Monaco also has two defenders suspended — Jemerson and Andrea Raggi — and another out injured, while Henry must decide whether to select veteran striker Radamel Falcao, who is returning late after playing for Colombia on Wednesday night.
Jardim often rested Falcao after internationals, but Henry may have no choice but to pick his leading scorer.
Monaco won the domestic title and reached the Champions League semifinals in 2017, scoring more than 150 goals. However, the side Henry has inherited is a far cry from that swashbuckling team.
The 41-year-old Henry helped France win the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. He is the leading goal-scorer for his country and for Premier League Arsenal, and thrilled fans with his speed and skill.
He exudes confidence but, given Monaco’s precarious situation, he has little time to talk about his vision for the club.
“I prefer to think only of the present. What the team needs right now might not be what the team needs in two or three months. When things are calmer perhaps we can talk about those things,” Henry said.
“It’s not going to be easy to get the team to understand how I want to play. It’s always better to have the team at the start of the season, so they know the ideas.”
Henry was previously Belgium’s No. 2. During the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he was praised by coach Roberto Martinez for his work helping fine-tune the squad’s forwards.
His focus now is to shore up a Monaco defense which has leaked 13 goals in nine league games.
“We must become a team which doesn’t let in goals,” Henry said. “What the team needs now is security and balance.”
Because it’s his first job in charge, Henry will be relying on his backroom staff more than other coaches might.
“It’s important to have staff members who can say ‘no’ to you, challenge you on certain points, and perhaps have a different vision of things,” he said. “The most important thing is not having people around me who just say ‘yes, yes.’“
Monaco has a huge scouting network and a reputation for developing players before selling them on for massive profits. The best example is 19-year-old France forward Kylian Mbappe, who shone in 2017 before joining Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth €180 million ($207 million).
Henry knows how it feels to be a young star. He made his Monaco debut at the age of 17 in 1994 and four years later he was a World Cup winner — just like Mbappe is now .
“We live in a (different) generation,” Henry said. “When I grew up, you needed to make the first step to the senior players, the first step to the coach. Now, you have to go to the new generation, understand their codes. The way they (arrive) sometimes to training, the way they walk, the little lean they have ... my coach would have sent me straight back to the dressing room (for that).
“Sometimes you have to laugh, sometimes you have to be hard and sometimes you have to let them be. The trick is when. If you stay stuck on the way you grew up, then there will be a fracture, that’s for sure. You have to adapt and be patient.”
French great Henry set for coaching debut with Monaco
French great Henry set for coaching debut with Monaco
- The French great, who started his glittering playing career at Monaco, takes over a side sitting 18th in the top flight
- The 41-year-old Henry helped France win the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship
Verstappen refuses to be drawn on future ahead of British GP
“There are always rumors, but only one who decides and that is me and the team“
SILVERSTONE, UK: Max Verstappen on Thursday refused to be drawn on questions about discussions with Mercedes and exit clauses in his Red Bull contract when he spoke to reporters ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Facing a succession of questions about his future, following reports in Italy that he had agreed to join Mercedes next year, the Dutchman was polite, but evasive in his answers, stressing that for him it would be ideal to complete his career with one team — Red Bull.
“I am happy where I am,” he said. “There are always rumors, but only one who decides and that is me and the team. I control my own destiny and I am happy and in control of where I’m at.”
Sky Sport Italia on Wednesday reported that he had agreed to join Mercedes, sparking speculation that he was set to replace arch-rival George Russell, but the Briton earlier stated he was confident of keeping his seat.
He said he expected to confirm his new contract with Mercedes — the team believed to be best prepared for the regulation changes next year — within a few weeks.
“I’ve nothing to add to last week,” said Verstappen. “Of course, other people write stuff and that’s great but it’s not me... Happy with my team? In life, you can always see other things and think, as they say, the grass is greener on the other side.
“But I think it is best to stay calm and up to now we have had success except for some time this season and this can happen and you have to accept it.
“I know what I have and what we can do and that’s fine, but, to be honest, I have nothing to add to last week. I am focussed on the team and to improve.”
Asked if he felt he needed to be in the fastest car to win races and titles, Verstappen said it is “difficult in F1 to be in the fastest car... Who would know that two years ago who will be fastest?
“I don’t focus much on it, I just try to improve my own situation and where we want to be next year. If you chase the fastest car now it may not be the fastest car next year. Sometimes you can luck in and then win four, or five or six titles...”
The 27-year-old shared that being a one-team man was an interesting prospect for him, while stating that he had never been tempted to leave Austrian constructor Red Bull.
“I’m going to say no...” he said on the questioning of ever having felt tempted to take a seat elsewhere in the paddock.
“I don’t want more headlines. It would be ideal to finish my career at Red Bull with one team. That would be something amazing and I am still trying to achieve that.
“We are fighting for podiums now and that’s not too bad!“
Reports suggested Verstappen’s contract contained exit clauses that could be activated if he is not in the top three in the drivers championship at the end of July.
But the four-time world champion bluntly refused to reveal any details about his deal with Red Bull.
“To be honest, I am not speaking about my contract. It’s easier like that,” he said.
From Grand Slam to grand struggle, Krejcikova lives to fight on
- There was zero champion’s polish on show as the Czech creaked her way into the third round
- The pair exchanged errors and breaks of serve throughout
LONDON: Barbora Krejcikova’s Wimbledon defense is still alive — but only just. The Czech squeezed past American Caroline Dolehide 6-4 3-6 6-2 in a second-round tussle that was all grind and no grandeur.
There was zero champion’s polish on show as the Czech creaked her way into the third round, surviving a match as scrappy as a Henman Hill picnic after a seagull raid.
“A huge relief,” she said afterwards to polite applause from the crowd. “Really up and down points, turning one way and the other ... I am so grateful I can keep going.”
Court Two spectators, many blissfully unaware that they were watching the reigning champion, might be forgiven — Krejcikova herself barely looked the part.
A season dogged by back and thigh niggles has left the 29-year-old short of sharpness, and her patchy 4-3 record for the season coming in was on full display in a match strewn with errors.
Spraying foreheads wide of their mark and dumping backhands into the net, nothing suggested a twice Grand Slam champion was holding court.
At times the contest resembled less a Grand Slam match and more a practice session between two very rusty players — Krejcikova produced 39 unforced errors, while Dolehide got fewer than half her first serves in all match.
The pair exchanged errors and breaks of serve throughout — Dolehide trying to power her way into the contest while Krejcikova sought to claw her way to victory on the back of slow, sliced forehands whispering back to a gentler age.
Scarcely can a champion have produced such a lukewarm performance on the Grand Slam stage but it would be fair to say the Czech blows hot and cold on the tennis court.
French Open champion in 2021, she has followed that title run with three first-round defeats and one second round showing at Roland Garros in the years since.
Her form can read like a nursery rhyme. When she’s good, she’s very, very good — Grand Slam good. But when the gears don’t quite catch, when timing slips or confidence wavers, she can unravel just as spectacularly.
As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 19th-century American poet and nursery rhyme writer, had it: when she is good, she is very, very good — but when she is bad, she is horrid.
Still, the 17th seed did just enough to scrape through to gentle applause and a sterner test ahead: 10th seed Emma Navarro, who won’t be quite so generous. (Reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)
US fans can learn from unbelievable Guatemala supporters, Pochettino says
- “The fans of Guatemala, I need to say, wow, unbelievable. It was like, to play there,” Pochettino told reporters
- “An unbelievable energy. That is football, that is football”
MEXICO: United States coach Mauricio Pochettino said Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals felt like a game on the road, adding that the spirit of the opposing fans was something American supporters could learn from.
Over 22,000 spectators attended the match in St. Louis and the majority were Guatemala supporters, loudly backing their team throughout the game even as Diego Luna’s early brace helped the US reach the final, where they face Mexico on Sunday.
“The fans of Guatemala, I need to say, wow, unbelievable. It was like, to play there. And that was good for our players because it was an atmosphere we didn’t expect,” former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager Pochettino told reporters.
Argentine Pochettino said he hoped to see the same passion from American fans when the World Cup takes place in the US next year.
“An unbelievable energy. That is football, that is football. When we say, the connection between the team and the fans, that’s the connection we’d like to see at the World Cup. The connection that makes you fly,” he said.
“When we talk about culture, that is culture ... to see (Guatemala), how they fight, how the fans behave, that is an important thing that we need to learn in this country.”
Pochettino said that in many countries, soccer matches were seen as much more than sporting spectacles.
“In a different country, you play (to) survive. You play for food. You play for pride ... it’s not to enjoy, go home and laugh, that’s it,” he said.
“The moment that we, this roster, start to live in this way, I think we have big room to improve.”
Motor racing-Mayer set to stand against Ben Sulayem for FIA presidency
- Mayer would announce on Friday he was standing against Ben Sulayem
- A press conference was called at a venue outside the Silverstone circuit
SILVERSTONE, England: Mohammed Ben Sulayem will face a challenge to his bid for re-election as president of the FIA, motorsport’s world governing body, after a rival candidate emerged on Thursday.
The BBC reported American Tim Mayer, a former Formula One steward and son of former McLaren principal Teddy Mayer, would announce on Friday he was standing against Ben Sulayem.
A press conference was called at a venue outside the Silverstone circuit ahead of British Grand Prix practice.
Ben Sulayem, an Emirati, is scheduled to attend the race which marks the midpoint in the Formula One season. He has already announced he is seeking a second term.
The FIA is the governing body for F1, the world rally championship and Formula E among other series.
Klopp ‘heartbroken’ by Diogo Jota’s death
- “This is a moment where I struggle!” Klopp posted on Instagram
- “I’m heartbroken to hear about the passing of Diogo and his brother Andre”
MUNICH: Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he was “heartbroken” to learn Diogo Jota, who he signed in 2020, had died with his younger brother Andre in a car crash on Thursday.
Diogo Jota, 28, died alongside Andre after their vehicle veered off a motorway in northern Spain before bursting into flames.
Klopp, who is Red Bull’s “head of global soccer,” persuaded the Liverpool board to pay £45 million ($62 million) for Diogo Jota after he impressed at Wolves.
“This is a moment where I struggle!” Klopp posted on Instagram.
“There must be a bigger purpose! But I can’t see it! I’m heartbroken to hear about the passing of Diogo and his brother Andre.
“Diogo was a not only a fantastic player, but also a great friend, a loving and caring husband and father!
“We will miss you so much! All my prayers, thoughts and power to Rute, the kids, the family, the friends and everyone who loved them! Rest in peace — Love.”
Diogo Jota was labelled an “exceptional player, exceptional boy,” by Klopp early on in the player’s spell at Liverpool.
Jota took little time to deliver some return on Liverpool’s investment, becoming the first player in the club’s history to score in his first four home games.
He was a key part of Klopp’s side that won the League Cup and FA Cup in 2021/22, narrowly missing out on the Premier League and Champions League for what would have been an unprecedented quadruple.
