BETWEEN them, the trophy cabinet from their playing careers is exceptional: a World Cup, a European Championship, a Confederation Cup, a Champions League, three Premier League titles, two La Liga crowns and four Serie A championships, a full Invincibles season, a dozen domestic cups, and all sorts of individual awards.
Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira are two of the greatest ever football players. One is the most gifted and complete striker you could wish to find and the other a born leader and wonderful box to box midfielder. Yet, as they know and, especially in Henry’s case, keep hearing at the moment: a great player doesn’t always make a great manager.
On Friday, Henry and Vieira will face each other as managers for the first time in their lives. Monaco host Nice in the most anticipated Mediterranean derby for years. The two cities are so close to each other and yet so different, much like Henry and Vieira. The pair were never really the best of friends when they were playing together at Arsenal, probably because their personalities were too contradictory. You can still see it in how they are behaving as managers. Vieira has that charm, the charisma of a leader that you want to follow and listen. Henry has the aura of a superstar, almost an atmosphere of superiority. The respect between them is huge though, and the one thing they have always had in common is their desire to win.
So far, Vieira, 42 and a year older than his former teammate, is the one having the most success: eight victories, five draws and six defeats, after a really slow start in the league – two losses and a draw in his first three Ligue 1 games – is fairly impressive. Henry is having a really tough start to his managerial career, with just two wins in his first 10 league games.
WATCH AND BET ON MONACO VS NICE ON UNIBET TV
It is not a surprise though that Vieira is currently a better manager than Henry. He had two solid seasons in MLS with New York City FC, where he had a 44% win ratio. He learned his trade in America and felt ready to come back to Europe in the summer. Nice offered him a very good platform to keep growing as a manager. With Vieira, everything is pondered, thought through, planned. He arrived at the beginning of the summer, so he was involved in the recruitment, the planning of pre-season and could work on his philosophy with his players from day 1. Tactically, he found the right system for his squad with a 5-3-2 formation and you can already see his input and his character in how the team plays.
On the other hand, Henry, who spent two years as an assistant to Roberto Martinez with Belgium, was the total opposite. On paper, the return of the prodigal son to Monaco where it all started for him was like a fairytale. On October 13th he took charge of a team in crisis though. They had won only one game all season, had plenty of players injured and their stars were under performing. Add on top of that, his lack of experience and it was always going to be tough for him. Everything went so quickly from him still being a pundit not so long ago to being the first team manager of a Champions League club, and he is yet to get into a full managerial mode. He still behaves like a player or a pundit and not enough like a manager. He is still looking for his best formation. He keeps changing and tweaking and all the injuries and problems are making it harder for him to find an identity.
Monaco are in a relegation fight, while Nice are aiming for Europe. Again, the situation could not be more different for the two clubs and the two managers. It would be a huge boost for Henry to win this derby, which his and Vieira’s first of course. The 2017 French champions have yet to win successive games this season and Nice are unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions and would love to pour more misery on their neighbours. The world will be watching, more because it is Thierry against Patrick than because it’s Monaco against Nice. Henry and Vieira will be at the centre of everything. They won’t mind that, providing as their team wins.
