How can Thierry Henry recover from Monaco disaster?

Thierry Henry returned to his first football team as the new Monaco manager just two days after the sacking of Leonardo Jardim in mid-October of 2018, and the Frenchman was tasked with bringing the side out of the relegation zone and up the Ligue 1 table.

Things have not gone as the club would have desired however, and the former Arsenal striker was removed as head coach soon after being suspended from his duties on the 24th of January 2019.

With Monaco sitting in 19th position and just fifteen points on the board, nine of which earned during Henry’s three months in charge, the owners decided that another change of manager was necessary. Surprisingly, Jardim is heavily linked with replacing Henry despite being shown the door by Monaco earlier in the season.

The situation is undoubtedly difficult for Henry to take and suffering such a hard blow in his first job as a manager may shatter the 41-year-old’s confidence.

Having been a professional footballer and assistant manager at the highest level, he should be able to cope with hardships such as this one better than most.

Henry has endured extremely tough circumstances in the past, notably Arsenal’s defeat in the 2006 Champions League Final and in the same year losing to Italy in the World Cup Final. Henry was Belgium’s assistant manager to Roberto Martinez as the nation were eliminated at the semi-final stage of the 2018 World Cup to France.

Despite those disappointments, he has continued to push himself further and take the next step. After being defeated with Arsenal and France in their respective finals of 2006, Henry then went on to join Spanish giants Barcelona in a successful spell with the Catalan side, winning seven trophies in three years.

Following Belgium’s unsuccessful attempt at reaching the World Cup Final, Henry could have taken time away from football and consider his options, perhaps returning to punditry.

Based on Thierry Henry’s recovery from mentally punishing situations in the past, it should come as no surprise if he returns to coaching in some way very soon.

If he does go back to television as a pundit, there is no question that there will be some jokes aimed towards him and viewers will also likely join in on the mocking.

Both these choices are painful in different ways, so regardless of what Henry determines to be best fitting after these gruelling few months, it should be respected.

In the end it is not particularly a question of whether Henry will cope well or not, as he will push himself in spite of anything, but rather what his next big step will be, as the past has displayed to us that he will not give in or let his mind get the better of him.