Pochettino reveals encounter with Thierry Henry after legend questioned Messi tactics at PSG

Four years have passed since Mauricio Pochettino was the boss at the Parc de Princes. He inherited a side with three of the most legendary players of this generation, but it was another legend of the game who accused him of not knowing how to manage such a star studded side.

Henry not so friendly with Poch

After spending time at Espanyol, Southampton and Tottenham the Argentine manager was brought to Paris and put in charge of a squad led by Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. It was a brief stint in France, that was met with some heavy criticism, and one of the biggest critics of all was Thierry Henry.

Henry was a pundit with Amazon, who on more than one occasion, went after Pochettino and his handling of the squad, especially Lionel Messi. “Thierry Henry, who was commentating for Prime, said he didn’t understand why Pochettino had put Messi on the right wing when he was better alongside Neymar,” he explained to L’Equipe. ”To that, I reply: Pochettino and his staff didn’t deliberately move Messi to the right wing in the second half. Sometimes players find themselves in a defensive position to recover, to regain their energy, and that was the case with Messi.”

PSG brought the former Tottenham manger in January of 2021. His first few months were filled with promise, beating Barcelona and then Bayern Munich in the Champions League before eventually losing to Manchester City in the semifinals. The next season was filled with hope of a first European Cup but they were knocked out in the round of 16, and despite winning the league, Poch and PSG parted ways in the summer of 2022.

“Don’t lie” Poch pleaded with Henry

There is never a shortage of media coverage and criticism when you are the boss of PSG, but when it comes from someone like Henry, it holds a little more weight. “So, when a former player like Henry criticizes this situation and holds me responsible, it causes an uproar. We hear things like: ‘This manager doesn’t know how to play Messi. He doesn’t know how to use Mbappe,” recalls Pochettino.

Poch recalls bumping into Henry during that period and calling the Frenchman out on what the Argentine manager called fabrications. “I remember telling him that. He actually agreed with me and replied, ‘Well, what do you want me to do?’ No! Not ‘What do you want me to do?’ Don’t lie, that’s all. Sometimes it’s things like that that hurt me the most,” he added. “When you sign for PSG, it’s because you have a track record. It’s not to do me a favor. Nobody does you a favor in football. I don’t care if people tell me I’m ugly, fat, or whatever. But lying... At that time, there was a lot of disrespect shown to us. I repeat: we had the necessary expertise to create a solid structure to give Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe the opportunity to perform at their best. But, well, the decision was made to withdraw.”

Now the US men’s national team coach, Pochettino has a massive summer coming up with the World Cup being hosted in North America. Before that, they will set their sights on the final two preparation matches over the next couple weeks. USA plays Belgium on Saturday night from Atlanta, Georgia before taking on Portugal on Wednesday, April 1.

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