Maghnes Akliouche, Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Rayan Cherki … How Thierry Henry scored them

For almost four years that he has been teaming up with Kate Abdo, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards on the set of CBS Sports, Thierry Henry has been an omnipresent media character, even beyond his coach experiences. But the latest, as coach of the French Olympic team, pushed the cursor a little further. From now on, if it is not one of his analyzes or humor trait that stands on social networks, it is one of his former players who talks about him.

Maghnes Akliouche is the latest. Questioned by Dazn last Sunday, the attacking midfielder of AS Monaco entrusted everything he had learned from the former Blues striker. “He helped me a lot on aggressiveness and work without balloon, he told me a lot about that. The importance that it could have in a large team, that I had to help the team on that side. Go to attack the opponents, want to recover the ball, it’s important and he immersed me”.

So many blatant qualities this season with the 23 -year -old, who has become an indisputable holder, and who impressed in Ligue 1 as in the Champions League. Akliouche is now at the gates of the France A team, and the big jump to a European top club. “He is 23 years old and I don’t see many players who have the same talent as him, confirmed Adi Hutter two weeks ago. If you ask me for my opinion, it is ready for the next step. “

This famous stage that Michael Olise had crossed by joining Bayern Munich last summer, in the wake of his very successful Olympics. Henry had immediately claimed how much he appreciated the player who could have chosen England, among others, as a selection. But the latter quickly convinced Didier Deschamps that it was with the Blues that he had his place. Like Loïc Badé but especially Manu Koné and Désiré Goué, also conquered by their Olympic coach.

A man of (very) few words, Olise had been more tied up than usual after the qualification of Bayern in the final of C1, at the end of February, when he had exchanged with “titi” on CBS. “It’s titi now, more coach?”, had smiled Henry in an exchange that said a lot about the bond that unites the two men.

“Honestly, it was great to work with himreplied the former Crystal Palace. It was good, I have a lot of respect for the coach. It was nice to work with someone who sees football as I see. Honestly, it was a superb experience, he knows how much I appreciate it. ” A full tribute, one more, for a player who has quickly become essential in Bavaria.

Jean-Philippe Mateta is not one of those who have changed dimension. He did not leave Palace, any more than he joined the French team, of which he dreams openly. But the native of Sevran has retained very high level standards which place him in the top 10 of the best first league scorers (17 goals all competitions, 2 units from his career record).

Not impossible that certain exchanges with the ancient arsenal legend helped him in this direction. “It was a relationship between attackerssaid Mateta in Téléfoot at the start of the season. We had a lot of discussions in relation to the positioning of an attacker, and also how to be with the team “.

Of course, everything was not pink for everyone, like an Alexandre Lacazette in difficulty during these games … and since then. Or a Rayan Cherki initially zapped in the list for the Olympic Games, then called to be content with crumbs. But management to the hard time of “Titi”, coupled with its sidelines by OL at the start of the season, obviously acted as an electroshock for a player freshly named in the category of the best players for the UNFP trophies. It is a certainty, Henry left no one indifferent.