Thierry Henry wants to go back to basics as he looks to Sunday’s clash with Paris St Germain to kick-start the turnaround of Monaco’s season.
Henry is yet to enjoy victory a month into his Monaco tenure with two draws and three defeats since he took over from Leonardo Jardim, the latest setback being a 4-0 home loss to Club Brugge in the Europa League on Thursday.
Ligue 1 leaders PSG, yet to drop a single point 12 games into the season, will hardly be welcome visitors under the circumstances, and Henry has told his players they must treat it as a cup match.
“The pleasure is still there but there is also great pressure at a difficult time,” Henry said.
“We know it will not be easy against Paris St Germain. Although it seems complicated, we will try to unsettle them.
“We will try to go back to basics and pressure our opponents like we did in Brugge (a 1-1 draw in October).
“We must be stronger and get back to winning the individual duels. We must look at this match against Paris St Germain as a cup match.”
Monaco have been PSG’s closest rivals in recent years, winning the title in 2016-17 and finishing as runners-up last season.
But they have struggled to hold on to their top talent, and the biggest reminder of that will come on Sunday when Kylian Mbappe returns to Stade Louis II in Paris colours.
“He is a star,” Henry said of the World Cup winner. “He is an outstanding player and let’s be happy that he is in France. I would have liked him to still be here at Monaco, the match would have been easier for us.
“What can you say about Kylian Mbappe? Everyone talks about his dribbling, but I have always talked about his game intelligence at his age. I have rarely seen that.”
While second-bottom Monaco can only look on with envious eyes, PSG continue to sweep all before them, winning 12 out of 12 in the league and scoring 41 goals in the process.
“People are waiting for PSG to win every one of our games,” said defender Thilo Kehrer. “We just try to do our best on the field.”
Kehrer insisted PSG would not read anything into Monaco’s league position ahead of the match.
“They have a young team with a lot of potential,” he said. “Anything can happen in a match. We must be ready for this clash, show our qualities and our mentality. If we do that and we play at our level, we can win this game.”
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