Former France star Thierry Henry has been named as the new assistant coach of Belgium, the national coach announced Roberto Martinez announced on Friday.
“Thierry is an important figure. He will bring something different. He agreed right away to join us,” said Martinez, who was appointed at the start of the month to succeed the sacked Marc Wilmots.
The Arsenal legend completed his Uefa A license via the Welsh FA this week, though it has led to fears of favouritism towards star names due to how quickly he passed
Thierry Henry‘s recent completion of the Uefa A licence has not pleased everyone, with the FA of Wales (FAW) being accused of bias in light of the Frenchman’s success.
The Arsenal great completed his A licence through the FAW earlier this month in less time than former Swansea and Cardiff City player Will Foley believes possible.
Foley said the FAW had a track record of pushing through “big names” quicker than other candidates, with the likes of Jens Lehmann, Marcel Desailly, Patrick Vieira, David Ginola and even Everton manager Roberto Martinez having completed their coaching badges under the guidance of FAW technical director Osian Roberts.
“There was no way humanly possible Thierry had even completed his Uefa B licence and could have finished all his assessments and tasks on the A licence when everyone else participating on the course has not even had the chance,” Foley told the Daily Mail.
“Where does it end with the Welsh FA? Are they not worried that someone somewhere will start asking to see proof that all these top names are completing what is required by Uefa to fully pass the courses?
“They are quite openly putting certain chosen names through the courses without completing the so-called allotted number of hours which all the candidates have to be seen to be doing. The big names get an easy ride while the others have to do it the hard way.”
The 19-year-old joined the club in a huge £58 million move from Monaco on transfer deadline day and his compatriot has backed him to be a huge hit at Old Trafford.
Louis Saha believes that new Manchester United signing Anthony Martial can emulate Thierry Henry at Old Trafford following his £58 million move to the club.
Martial completed his big-money move to United on transfer deadline day, with a number of pundits raising questions over the transfer fee paid for the 19-year-old.
Saha, though, insists that Martial can make a major impact in the Premier League, and has backed his compatriot to thrive under the management of Louis van Gaal.
“He’s got that speed, that power, he’s got that youth in him so he’ll surprise a lot of defenders because they don’t know him,” said Saha, who spent four years United between 2004 and 2008.
“It’s a great asset for Manchester United and that’s what they needed because up front they lack speed sometimes.
“In France we call him the next Thierry Henry because he can play left or right, he’s got a great ability with the ball, he can take on three, four players with ease, there is no problem. At the same time, the new generation have no fear.
“He’s got such an ability that he can win trophies for Manchester United I believe that, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on him.”
Martial has scored 15 goals in his senior career thus far.
Thierry Henry believes Chelsea are capable of adding the Champions League and Premier League to their League Cup triumph this season.
Jose Mourinho’s men took the first step towards a potential treble by beating Tottenham 2-0 at Wembley on a day that saw Manchester City lose ground on the league leaders with a 2-1 loss to Liverpool.
The Champions League last-16 tie between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain is finely poised at 1-1 after the first leg and Henry, now working as a media pundit, believes Chelsea can go all the way both at home and abroad.
“I think they can,”Henry told Sky Sports. “They have all of the quality required to win the treble. Time will tell.
“I’m so eager to see that game against Paris Saint-Germain. That will be massive. If they beat PSG, you have to go through maybe Bayern Munich, then Real Madrid and Barcelona.”
