Thierry Henry and Arsene Wenger have paid tribute to former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier.
The Frenchman sadly passed away on Monday at the age of 73, with tributes pouring in from across the football world.
Houllier was in charge at Liverpool between 1998 and 2004 and won six trophies in total that included a treble in 2001.
Sir Alex Ferguson was among the former managers to pay their respects to Houllier after several years of battling against the Liverpool manager on the touchlines.
While making a huge impact on Merseyside, Houllier also played a key role in the success of the French national side.
Henry has spoken about how Houllier showed him an incredible leap of faith in the France youth ranks, making him captain whilst winning the U20 European Championships together.
"Devastated to hear the news about the passing of Gérard Houllier. He was more than just a coach to me. He was a mentor too," Henry said on Twitter.
"He gave me the armband for the France U17, U18 and U19 teams and we won the European Championship on the way to the U20 World Cup together.
"He helped me so much in my development. We met again in New York when he became my Sporting Director and we also spoke just recently.
"He was so knowledgeable and helpful to all those around him. Sad day and big loss for French Football. What a man and what a coach."
Wenger, a fellow Frenchman, also relaid his respect for Houllier after many hard-fought battles in the dugouts.
Despite their differences during heated matches, Wenger explained how he was indented to Houllier for always smoothing out their relationship away from the cauldron of a matchday.
"He was optimistic," Wenger said.
"He had the optimism of a manager. It’s such an injustice.
"He was more fair play than me. I’d get annoyed, he’d smooth things over. Thanks to him, our friendship survived the clashes we had in games."
