The Espoirs now have three victories in three qualifying matches for Euro 2025, after the victory (9-0) against Cyprus on Tuesday. After two months in office, Thierry Henry has only known success.
Never has a coach of the France Espoirs team had such a great start. Winner with his Bleuets against Bosnia-Herzegovina last Friday (2-1), Thierry Henry was already the very first Espoirs coach to start his mandate with three consecutive victories. But the former glory of Arsenal improved this record, Tuesday October 17, with the success easily acquired by its players against Cyprus (9-0) in Grenoble, the largest victory in the history of the Espoirs.
Four victories, a first place in Group H of qualifying for Euro 2025, a backbone that is already emerging: appointed on August 21, Henry certainly couldn’t dream of a better debut. Very popular first steps, as the former top scorer in the history of the French team (123 caps, 51 goals) attracts attention.
Strong choices
On the lawn too, the transition is clear. “My idea is to press and get the ball. In possession, the ball must travel, not dribble.”explained Thierry Henry in The Team on October 10. His team installed in 4-3-1-2 – “we have a lot of number 9s, so we can’t play with wide wingers” – convinced in the first three matches, with big victories against Denmark (4-1), Slovenia (4-0) and an offensive festival against Cyprus.
After disappointing during the last Euro Espoirs last summer, by being eliminated in the quarter-finals against Ukraine even though they were one of the favorites for the title, this France Espoirs team is experiencing a small revolution. Since his arrival, the new coach has made strong choices, notably designating Warren Zaire-Emery, the young Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, as the new captain (17 years old).
The coach found a promising goalkeeper with Toulouse’s Guillaume Restes, a dominant midfielder and a prolific attack, who enjoyed himself against Cyprus on Tuesday, in the wake of the very creative Rayan Cherki, author of a double like Arnaud Kalimuendo and Mathys Tel. If several players have already scored points since September, no place is assured in this squad.
Henry doesn’t want to talk about the Olympics yet
Thierry Henry made sure to get the message across by calling eight new players for these two October matches and excluding ten present during the September gathering. The coach is thus carrying out a squad review which could have given him some answers before his team’s last match of the year, on November 17 against Austria, still as part of qualifying for the Euro.
In 2024, it will be time for the coach to focus on the Olympic Games, one of the objectives for which he was hired. For the moment, he does not yet wish to discuss this deadline, which will shake up his squad (players can be selected until they turn 23 for the Olympics, compared to 21 for the Espoirs). He will also have to tackle another big challenge: convincing the clubs to give up their players for the period of the Games.