Monaco midfielder, and former Arsenal target, Aleksandr Golovin has spilled the beans on what it was like to be coached by Gunners legend Thierry Henry.
The former France forward was sacked by the Ligue 1 club earlier this season after a difficult start to his management career.
He lasted just 20 games in all competitions before he got the boot to be replaced by Leonardo Jardim, the head coach he had replaced in Monte Carlo.
In an interview posted to YouTube , translated on Reddit , Golovin shared his experience of working under Henry, who emerged as a left-field alternative to Unai Emery last summer as Arsene Wenger finally stepped down as Arsenal manager after 22 years.
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Fans dreaming of seeing their former match-winner return to take charge in the home dugout at the Emirates Stadium will need ot hope his next appointment proves to be more successful.
"Maybe Henry didn’t kill the role of the player inside of him," said the Russia midfielder. "When things weren’t working out during practice he would get nervous and yell a lot. Maybe it was unnecessary.
"He was a very strong player and the only players near his level at Monaco are maybe [Radamel] Falcao and [Cesc] Fabregas.
"He would try to go out onto the field and show us how to practice and yell. Maybe a different manager would say 'let’s go, get it together', but he would get nervous right away and run onto the field and start playing and showing us things.
"He would scream 'try to get the ball away from me'. Players were mostly calm, but maybe they were in a bit of a shock. You could tell he didn’t fully transition into the role of manager.
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"There were times when he would feel hurt and not talk to us and review tactics for hours. After Jardim came back, positivity during training came back.
"It’s much harder being the main coach rather than the fun assistant manager when you realize everything is on your shoulders.
"He wanted to advance the youth at the club and brought up 6 players to train with the main team. He trusted young players and I liked that."
A star of the World Cup for Russia, Golovin had been linked to Arsenal and went on to confirm that if he were to leave Monaco the Gunners would be his preferred destination.
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