Thierry Henry carries wenger’s dry spell to Monaco.

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Despite only taking over as Monaco manager a month ago, Thierry Henry is already under pressure at the Stade Louis II. So why is the Frenchman struggling so badly and what can he do to turn things around in the Principality?

With Monaco languishing near the foot of Ligue 1, the former Arsenal forward agreed a three-year deal to replace Leonardo Jardim in the Monaco dugout on October 18.

Henry described his return to the club he started his career at almost a quarter of a century ago as being a “dream come true”, although things have not gone according to plan since his arrival in the South of France.

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Monaco were struggling down in 18th place having won only their opening league game of the season when owner Dmitry Rybolovlev decided to part company with the man who had guided the club to the title and the Champions League semi-finals just 18 months ago.

“There is a lot of work to do, as you can imagine,” said Henry at his unveiling, although his appointment has not had the desired impact.

Monaco’s directors were banking on the fact that there was sufficient quality within the squad for Henry to be able to turn things around quickly, despite his lack of experience.

“There is quality within Monaco’s squad, but their chronic injury problems mean that Henry hasn’t been able to field anything close to his full-strength first XI.

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There is no doubt Henry has had a chronic injury list to contend with since taking charge at Monaco and things to do not seem to be getting any better either.

The 41-year-old has had only 17 fit players to choose from, while the new man was also without an astonishing 15 squad members for the recent visit of PSG, including key man Youri Tielemans, who missed out due to suspension.

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However, if Henry thought his bad run with injuries was over, he was much mistaken as both Nacer Chadli and Jordi Mboula were then taken off with knocks during the match, forcing the Monaco manager to joke: “I am maybe going to start playing again.”

“Not all of their struggles are down to the injury list, but it’s been a major factor,” says Williams. “Any club would feel the effects of having so many players missing, let alone one effectively starting from scratch after selling off another raft of first-team players.

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“It’s been a perfect storm, basically. Monaco might have got away with their summer revamp had they been able to blend their new players into the team methodically over a period of months, but the injuries have robbed them of that luxury.”

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Henry has tried out a number of different formations in an attempt to arrest the club’s slide, but with little effect. The Frenchman started out by employing a 4-2-3-1, before changing to three at the back and a five-man midfield with overlapping wing backs.

He has also given both 4-3-2-1 and 4-3-3 a go, but Williams thinks he now needs to pick a formation and stick with it to allow his players time to adjust.

“He’s just been trying to find a formula that works and in his defence, Jardim had been tweaking the formation before Henry even arrived,” he says. “Monaco won the title playing in a 4-4-2 with the two wide players (Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar) cutting in and the full-backs (Djibril Sidibe and Benjamin Mendy) overlapping.

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“Last season it was more of a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3. Prior to Jardim’s dismissal, he had the team playing with a back five in a quest for greater defensive solidity.

Do you think Thierry Henry will start producing results as soon as expected?

 

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