MONACO MIDFIELDER Aleksandr Golovin says former manager Thierry Henry did not ‘fully transition’ into the role of a manager during his unsuccessful spell with the Ligue 1 side.
Henry was appointed to succeed Leonardo Jardim as manager last October, only to be replaced by the same manager again in January.
He managed just two league victories with the Ligue 1 outfit before being moved on and is said to have fallen out with a number of Monaco’s players.
Golovin, who played under Henry having signed for the principality club after the 2018 World Cup, says Henry was nervous as a manager and would yell at the players a lot.
“Maybe Henry didn’t kill the role of the player inside of him,” the 22-year-old said.
“When things weren’t working out during practice he would get nervous and yell a lot. Maybe it was unnecessary.
“He was a very strong player and the only players near his level at Monaco are maybe [Radamel] Falcao and [Cesc] Fabregas.
“He would try to go out onto the field and show us how to practice and yell.”
The Russia midfielder also explained how Henry would join in with training and says some players were shocked by his management techniques.
“Maybe a different manager would say ‘let’s go, get it together’, but he would get nervous right away and run onto the field and start playing and showing us things.
“He would scream ‘try to get the ball away from me’. Players were mostly calm, but maybe they were in a bit of a shock.
“You could tell he didn’t fully transition into the role of manager.
“There were times when he would feel hurt and not talk to us and review tactics for hours.”
Despite admiring Henry’s desire to use some of the younger players at the club, Golovin says he feels that the Frenchman struggled to adjust to the role of a manager, having only been a coach in the past.
“After Jardim came back, positivity during training came back.
“It’s much harder being the main coach rather than the fun assistant manager when you realise everything is on your shoulders.
“He wanted to advance the youth at the club and brought up 6 players to train with the main team. He trusted young players and I liked that.”
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