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A s Belgium started preparing for the World Cup. There was a coach who seemed to be competing for a place in the starting lineup. In sprints, he was up there with the best. During the warm-up exercises, he barely lost the ball. You can see that he is taking care of himself and his diet.
His name? Thierry Henry, of course. Such details reinforce the status of the former Arsenal striker as an idol in the Belgian configuration and help to make him a perfect link between players and staff.
But all of a sudden there are other links to consider. This week, Henry was pushed to try to help these players to defeat the country of his birth, for which he won 123 selections, not to mention a World Cup and a World Championship. # 39; Europe.
-final against France Tuesday did not miss a comment from Les Bleus . "It's weird," said Didier Deschamps, the coach, at Telefoot. Olivier Giroud was more frank. "I would be proud to show Titi that he chose the wrong camp," he said. The attacker believes it will be a "special match" for Henry
What Henry does in fact remains a mystery. Requests for interviews and requests to bring him to a press conference were scanned. He prefers to let others speak. The 40-year-old does not want his massive shadow away from those who have a greater influence on performance.
Nobody in the Belgian camp has a reputation as important as the former Arsenal striker. He is the most decorated staff member, with a Champions League and five league titles to add to those honors with France. He was – and still is – loved by millions of fans. It presents an image of charm, wit, intelligence and flair.
Even in Russia, 20 years after winning the World Cup, you can feel its aura. Journalists covering Belgium are starting to be slightly annoyed by this. At each press conference comes the same question. A Belgian, a Dutchman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard or an Englishman asks for the microphone and questions the player … The second assistant-manager of Belgium: "How does it feel to be on the pitch with him?" "What does it add to your game?" "Does her experience help you in the race to the finals?"
Last week there was a lot of sighing among reporters but now it's even worse. The Thierry Henry game is activated. In the accumulation of France-Belgium, the Belgian assistant will have most of the spotlight on him: the temporary enemy of France. His reputation, his nationality and his past drew him as a shadow, at a time when he was playing a role in the shadows.
Henry joined the Belgium team in 2016, a few weeks after the appointment of Roberto Martínez as director, and since then he has granted an interview to the Belgian public television channel, in which he stressed that He wanted to stay out of the limelight. "I'm not the national director, nor am I the deputy director," he said. "I'm the T3, the third coach." From the beginning, I said everyone had to stay calm.It's not Thierry Henry's show, I'm here to help the manager and the manager. The manager is the one who will talk, I will try to make the team better.As a coach, you do not need to mention what you did as a that player in the past.And as a coach, I have not proved anything. "
This is what he also told the Belgian Football Federation (KBVB), when a agreement was concluded in August 2016 in Monaco. In support of Martínez and his first assistant, the Englishman Graeme Jones, the governing body wanted a coach who had great experience as a player, had won trophies and could transfer his knowledge -make and mentality to this generation of players. It was early in the search for a successor for Marc Wilmots that Ralf Rangnick, now football director of RB Leipzig, but then one of the top three candidates, mentioned that Henry was interested in joining Belgium.
Rangnick said that when he had the job, Henry should join him as an assistant. Rangnick was not named but Martínez welcomed with open arms the suggestion to take Henry to his staff. KBVB's directors never hid that Henry was getting work experience for his coaching badges. He was allowed to keep his work well paid as a pundit with Sky and his demands were modest – he earns around £ 2,500 (£ 2,200) a week and apparently gives his salary to a charity. Unlike Martínez, who signed a new two-year contract before the World Cup, Henry did not accept an offer to continue. The Belgian federation also hopes to extend it.
When Henry was introduced to players in their hotel in Zaventem in September 2016, some were surprised to meet him. He was one of their childhood idols. Some, like Christian Benteke and Michy Batshuayi, had posters of him on the wall. A source from the KBVB said, "You should have seen their faces." Batshuayi, a social media master, immediately posted a photo of Henry and him: "Learning from the best."
Henry acts as a teacher, too He regularly shoots the attackers to talk about their movement and positioning.On one of the first meetings, he asked Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and co to show clips and give his comments. perfectionist, do not mince his words, he can be very hard and frank with the players, his little tips help them, and the younger members of the team, in particular, listen to everything he says.
Lukaku was one of the first to knock on his door.These are similar characters and have a very natural relationship. "I've already told Thierry Henry that I discovered his technique to score goals, "said Lukaku." I'm not here yet, m I'm slowly arriving there. "
Even in England, they meet sometimes. "We talk about what I need to do best, sometimes I talk to him about old games, one with Arsenal in the 2005-2006 season, for example, I can tell you everything about it, and then he brings out the details of the game. One of my matches, and together, we are looking for ways to do even better.I learn from him every day.The way to move, to find the spaces, to control the ball better.It could I have learned a lot from him. "
As a coach, Henry is first and foremost an observer. He takes care of the offensive game pieces, but during open group sessions he stays in the background. Others make the conversation. Before each session, he turns off the cones and in the end he removes them. Usually, while waiting for the players to leave the field, he does tricks with the ball. "I think it's mainly school for him – it's his early years as a coach," said Dries Mertens.
Among the players, Henry still likes to behave like one of the boys. We saw him play basketball with Hazard and Benteke; he watches matches with Vincent Kompany, who raised him in the air after Brazil's match; he's joking around. "He is an idol for everyone in the group," said Yuri Tielemans. "Someone who laughs very often and always has the mentality of boys."
But will he laugh if he helps Belgium kill France?
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