Thierry Henry: Monaco's prodigal son returns home in their hour of need

Thierry Henry: Monaco's prodigal son returns home in their hour of need

Can Thierry Henry reward Monaco's managerial gamble?

“EVERYTHING started here. Everything will start again now…”

Twenty-four years after making his debut for Monaco as a professional player, Thierry Henry will make his debut for Monaco as a professional manager. In 1994, it was against Nice on August 31. In 2018, it will be at Strasbourg, on October 20, both in the league. As he said on the little video put out on social media by the club this weekend with the quotes above, Henry will pick up the thread of his career where it all started for him. He is not the 17-year-old winger anymore, the super talented and confident kid from Paris who was destined to greatness because he was so good, so mature and so driven, all of that so young. He is now the 41-year-old coach who has never coached as a number 1 before, the big name supposed to bring back success to a team currently 18th in the table after one win out of twelve in all competitions so far this season.

Let’s be honest: it is a huge gamble that Monaco have taken. On their short list to replace Leonardo Jardim, they had three names: Henry, Marcelo Gallardo and Antonio Conte.

Conte doesn’t need any introduction and his character, as well as his winning pedigree, would have suited the club and the situation the team finds itself in. Gallardo, who is doing very well in Argentina with River Plate (he took the team to the Copa Libertadores win in 2015) and who was a glorious number 10 for the club (from 1999 to 2003) could have been a clever-outside of the box choice. But if Henry was not the strongest candidate in terms of coaching experience, he was the strongest in terms of marketing. The club wanted, first and foremost, someone who would make newspapers’ front pages and news bulletin all around the world. For that, the 1998 World Cup winner was perfect.

The pressure won’t come from the club, who expects the team to improve now. It won’t come from the fans or the media down there either. It won’t come from the players as they welcome the change of manager. No, it will come from Henry himself. He will be so demanding, will have such a high level of expectations for himself and his players like he was as a player. After two years as an assistant of Roberto Martinez with Belgium, a few months as a youth team coach at Arsenal, it still feels like it is a dive in the unknown. But he is excited. 

And he feels he is ready. He almost took over at Bordeaux a month ago but could not agree on a deal. He found the Aston Villa job interesting, but Monaco called and trumped it all.

On Sunday, Henry went to watch Monaco U19 play against Ajaccio. After the game, he invited himself into the dressing room to introduce himself to the players. He knows that sooner rather than later, he will invite some of those kids to join the first team.

He is totally aware that his mission is exactly the same one that Jardim had before him. The Monaco manager has to develop young players, give them a platform to showcase their talents so they can be sold at the highest price and start all over again. He received assurances though that not as many players will leave in each transfer window as recently. Thierry Henry is eager to start now. He will get quickly at the heart of the action with the Champions League back next week as well as the Ligue 1 matches coming thick and fast and where Monaco are really in a tough situation. He has his ideas, he knows what he wants and how he wants his players to play. When you had Arséne Wenger and Pep Guardiola as influences, it is a good start. Now, he needs to implement his philosophy onto his team.

He himself doesn’t know what will happen. He could be a huge success, a big flop or something in between. He will need time and has already obtained from the club’s hierarchy that money will be spent to strengthen the squad in January.

For now, he is focusing on the pitch and this new adventure. He took his first training session on Monday and will be officially unveiled on Wednesday. Then he will get the team ready for his managerial debut. 

He lost his first professional game against Nice (2-0). Will his first one on a bench will end the same way? He will find out on Saturday.

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