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Ex-Gunner Watch

Is it wrong to still love Giroud

  • Yes he’s no longer a gooner

  • No he will always be a top man


Results are only viewable after voting.

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel

...the club put out a recent interview with him too...


...part 2 is out next Tuesday.
 
Last edited:

skip spence

Well-Known Member
Two goals for Olivier Giroud last night for France against Sweden.

With 44 national team goals he's now past Michel Platini and at nr 2 in the all time scoring list, closing in on Thierry Henry at 51.

He's only 34 y/o and could still reach him.

Who would've thought?
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
https://theathletic.co.uk/2210606/2020/11/23/thierry-henry-impact-shouting/

With 2.4 million views on Twitter, 220,000 more on Instagram and another 38,000 on YouTube, where have you been if you haven’t seen Thierry Henry barking orders at his Montreal Impact players from the touchline yet?

The shouts are frequent and varied.

There’s the call for better communication: “Mason was there, Victor. Don’t scream. Mason was there. Mason was there. Mason, tell him! Tell him you were there alone!”

And then and more blunt request for quicker passing: “Shamit! Can you pass it one touch? Then why don’t you do it?”



Reactions were clipped, the video was tweeted with a plethora of different contexts to its original, assumptions were made and, of course, the few people who know what it’s actually like to be coached by one of football’s biggest icons were centre stage.

“Yeah, I’ve seen it. There was a lot of me being involved in that,” Major League Soccer side Montreal’s Shamit Shome begins, while trying to hold back a laugh.

“Oh man, it was funny! My Instagram was blowing up with comments on my pictures saying ‘Can you pass it one touch?’”

On November 14 last year, the Canadian outfit provided the Frenchman with his first steps back into first-team management since his brief difficult spell at Monaco. Returning to his boyhood club in October 2018, Henry was unable to pull them from the state of chaos in which he found them, and was replaced after less than three months by Leandro Jardim, the same coach he had succeeded.

Leading a squad riddled with injuries near the foot of Ligue 1 brought its challenges. In just 20 games, Henry was forced to use 40 players, mustering five wins, four draws and 11 losses. By contrast, he used 26 players in his first season with Montreal, earning their first MLS play-offs spot in four years and a place in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals (the second leg against Olimpia of Honduras is to be played on December 15, with Montreal 2-1 down after the pre-COVID lockdown game in Canada back in March).

As one of the many players addressed by name in the famous MLS clip, midfielder Shome insists the standards of a man synonymous with success are welcome.

“It’s constructive criticism. Maybe I didn’t realise that I should have done it in the moment (played a one-touch pass), but when I looked back at the video, I definitely should have played it one-touch,” he adds.

“Sometimes when you’re on the field you don’t see it. Those remarks he makes are just feedback to improve so next time I was in that position, I’ve got to think and believe I can play it one-touch and that he’s giving me the confidence to play one-touch.

“Everything he says is constructive criticism when you look at that video. It’s just how can you do better to help the team because we want to win in the end. To win, you have to have a high standard.”

During his playing career, Henry also expected the best from those around him, including his team-mates, like Lauren, who threw a bottle at Henry in their Arsenal days because of a reaction to one of his passes.

That idealistic trait has followed him into management.

At Monaco, this was perhaps encapsulated best (in public at least) when he motioned to Benoit Badiashile to tuck in his chair at the end of a December 2018 press conference.


And yet, despite these expectations, simplicity is king.

Shome in particular understands just how important it is that he does the basics well.

“It’s about being versatile, doing the right things, the simple things and being confident,” the 23-year-old, who graduated with an engineering degree earlier this year, continues.

“It’s not easy to play multiple positions but I think I’m a player that understands the game well enough. (Henry’s) advice was (to) keep it simple and do the right things properly. For me, it’s very cool because I’m a natural midfielder but at the same time I’m getting tips from him on what I should be doing better as a right-back, left-back and right winger, so for me it’s been a very unique experience.”

While football can often appear a complicated game, that search for simplicity has always been present in Henry, the coach, from his recent touchline shouts to former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama, to the more considered advice to Shome and as far back as his formative coaching experiences at London Colney.

After retiring as a player in December 2014, the Frenchman returned to Arsenal for a third spell, this time as a youth coach. Arsenal were still Champions League regulars at the time, with the under-19s managed by Andries Jonkers, and competed in the UEFA Youth League with Eddie Nketiah, Donyell Malen, Reiss Nelson, Ismael Bennacer and Alex Iwobi — who personally benefited from Henry’s guidance — just a few of the very talented squad.

Henry’s role was smaller scale and more intimate — he was more of an assistant — but his principles were evident.

“(Henry’s) very detailed, very intense as a coach and knows what he wants from a player. He wants you to be calm but wants you to move the ball really fast; that’s from when he chipped in, in training while giving advice,” recalls Ben Sheaf, currently on loan at Coventry City in the Championship from Arsenal.

“I remember in sessions there would be a spare man in a possession (drill) and him saying, ‘When you do that, it’s almost like a bounce ball. Keep it so simple, one/two touch, pass, move’. (He would) just really simplify the game. He’s played with Xavi and (Andreas) Iniesta, who are top midfielders who did the simple things so well and moved the ball so fast because they didn’t have the physicality to bully people. The (opposition) couldn’t get near them.

“I was a midfielder since I can remember and it was the season before that (Henry’s arrival) when Arsène Wenger moved me to centre-back. So I was always more of a ball-playing centre-back, but he (Henry) certainly encouraged playing out from the back, being brave on the ball and playing through the thirds.”

A disciple of Wenger and Pep Guardiola, Henry being in favour of a possession-based game is no shock. For those exposed to his analysis on Sky Sports in the mid-2010s, his references to Guardiola challenging him at Barcelona served as regular reminders of how his view on football evolved.

His explanation of the Spaniard’s obsession with positioning was a prime example of how important fundamentals are to him.


The shape of his teams are also key. At Monaco and now Montreal, he hasn’t been shy to experiment with different formations to get the most out of his side. His most-used system in Canada has been a 5-3-2 but there has been room to change.

A 4-3-3 was deployed in their last-gasp 2-1 play-off loss away to New England Revolution last Friday and the 3-2 win over DC United the week prior in the regular-season finale. A 3-5-2 preceded that, however, in a 1-0 defeat to Orlando City, with a 4-4-2 diamond used the week before as they were beaten 1-0 by Nashville. There is also close attention paid to rival teams.

“This season he’s been very focused on what we do tactically against the opposition and every time we’ve played, we’ve been surprised with how spot-on his tactics have been,” continues Shome. “The way he wants us to attack or press teams, we end up being very successful in that manner.

“But at the end of the day some of the games didn’t go our way, not because of the tactics, but because sometimes we didn’t have the fight, spirit or aggression, and that’s the other part of the game where he’s trying to get us to improve. We can do tactics all day but as players we have to be willing to compete and fight that much more, which is what he was getting at in his speech (see video below) and it definitely was motivating for us to get ready to battle.”

In need of a win at DC United to secure their play-offs place, this approach was particularly evident.

Trailing 2-1 after 33 minutes, the tactical changes from Henry allowed Montreal to regain control and put them in a position to come back, but it was the added intangibles summed up by the man himself both pre and post-match which got his side over the line.


Clearly, Henry can also be forceful when needed.

“At times he was firm in certain sessions,” adds Sheaf. “Very demanding of what was needed and what should happen, like you can see now in some of the videos you see online. The information he gives is top stuff. He is a demanding coach but if you want to play at the top level and become a top manager, you’ve got to be like that.”

The 2021 MLS season is set to begin in early March despite this year’s pandemic — with Montreal in the middle of their fourth lockdown — as a result of the condensed international schedule due to come in the summer. After Montreal had to set up base in New Jersey to play “home” matches at the Red Bull Arena for the final stretch of the season, due to complications crossing the border from Canada, it should give Henry some time at least to prepare for the new campaign, at the end of which his initial contract with the club will expire.

Building on this chaotic year will be the aim, which will make elevating those currently in his squad — and those who arrive in the coming months — even more important.

Yet Henry’s approach isn’t to run every single training session himself; he will either lead a session he’s planned or roll back the years to join in with his players.

“It’s a bit of both,” Shome explains, on how the Frenchman operates day to day.

“He gives the assistant coaches freedom to run and organise sessions at times but if there’s things he sees that he wants to fix or something he wants to improve upon, he’ll definitely be involved and get us to change habits that aren’t right. He’s a hands-on manager, always involved, looking at how we can get better and improve tactically.

“We do rondos a lot to start off training and it’s funny because he hops in sometimes. When he’s in, the quality gets that much better, that much sharper. It’s not because guys want to impress because he’s in our rondo group, it’s just he helps raise the level because of the way he talks when we’re doing the rondos. He’s played at such a high level that he can help raise the level of players, and even if he’s not a player now, he’s still doing it where he’s a part of the group, the quality gets better because he’s a leader, as a player and a coach.”

Fixing in on the way Henry uses his voice when joining in such sessions, Sheaf chuckles while reflecting on the calculated directions he received at London Colney.

“That makes sense when you think about it. It’s weird to describe because I remember a few of the lads doing impressions of him,” he adds.

“When he talks, you feel like he’s a leader and whatever he says, he says it with a purpose. He’s very assured in what he says and the tone he says it in is very serious. So it does come across as ‘I have to do that’, but at the same time, we did see more of a funny side to him as well.

“When you grow up, you come across different types of players, coaches, managers, egos, and he’s one of those people where certain things they say or do will stick with you. I think all the young players that were with him at Arsenal would definitely have taken something from him.”

Unwavering in regards to his high standards being met, Henry’s constant undertones of simplicity and application are concepts that can be gathered by players at any level at the game.

It’s an approach epitomised by the 50 characters he chose to describe himself on Twitter:

“Amateurs call it genius. Masters call it practice.”
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel

It's unbelievable that he'd still probably start here.


...30 years old, you blink and it's 10 years in the future sometimes.

I remember him coming through at Yainted and the rage I felt when we signed him on deadline day in 2014 so they could sign Falcao, little did I know he would become one of my fav Arsenal players...life is funny :lol:
 

Vanfrothan

Active Member
I don't hate him, he just clearly never really had Arsenal in his heart like we all thought he did and a lot of our other players from that time did.

He was talking a few weeks back about nearly joining Sp**s from Chelsea last January so that tells you all you need to know about him.

We gave him and Kos our love and they pretty much just spat it back in our faces! :lol:
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland

Could argue this man deserves his own thread. I often think it gets overlooked just what he did for this club. I don't want to compare to much but he arguably took over a much worse situation than what Wenger took over. Won a trophy within 2 years, toppled Liverpool and won our first league in 18 years, won the league again 2 years later, helped develop many young players, won our first and to date only European trophy.

Anyways happy birthday.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel

Could argue this man deserves his own thread. I often think it gets overlooked just what he did for this club. I don't want to compare to much but he arguably took over a much worse situation than what Wenger took over. Won a trophy within 2 years, toppled Liverpool and won our first league in 18 years, won the league again 2 years later, helped develop many young players, won our first and to date only European trophy.

Anyways happy birthday.

Great manager for us...just below Wenger and Chapman in terms of overall impact, but still fantastic for Arsenal.

I remember thinking when Arteta became the manager that hopefully he could have a similar legacy as a coach here as Graham one day, didn't think Mikel could touch Arsène and Herbert level...doubting that will happen now, ngl :lol:
 

GoonerJeeves

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: Norway
Great manager for us...just below Wenger and Chapman in terms of overall impact, but still fantastic for Arsenal.

I remember thinking when Arteta became the manager that hopefully he could have a similar legacy as a coach here as Graham one day, didn't think Mikel could touch Arsène and Herbert level...doubting that will happen now, ngl :lol:

Always loved the fact that won the league both as a player and manager with Arsenal.
 

squallman

Still Pining for Wenger

never seen someone chat so much **** unprovoked


It's telling that he talks more about Arsenal than he does about the league title he was so desperate to go and win. Wish he'd just shut up about us and go into coaching or punditry. Everyone has moved on from him by now.

I think the fans like Giroud more than they do this snake.
 
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Melquiades

Active Member
It's telling that he talks more about Arsenal than he does about the league title he was so desperate to go and win. Wish he'd just shut up about us and go into coaching or punditry. Everyone has moved on from him by now.

I think the fans like Giroud more than they do this snake.

Yup, it’s pretty obvious how wounded he is by the criticism and how badly he wants to be forgiven and accepted by Arsenal fans ... but instead of owning up and saying ‘I made a mistake’ he just keeps making excuses to try and justify things and digging himself a bigger hole.

Hopefully he figures it out eventually.
 

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