Ex-Arsenal star Henry to coach Montreal Impact

Paris (AFP) – Ex-Arsenal star Thierry Henry has been appointed coach at MLS franchise Montreal Impact on a two-year contract, the Canadian club announced Thursday.

“Welcome to Montreal @ThierryHenry!” the Major League Soccer (MLS) club tweeted.

Henry, whose baptism of fire as a manager ended in disaster at French club Monaco when he was fired in January, will coach the Canadian club for a minimum of two seasons, Montreal Impact said.

“Henry signed a two-year deal, with an option for 2022,” the club said on its website.

Henry, 42, who helped France win the World Cup in 1998, is familiar with the MLS, having played from 2010 to 2014 with the New York Red Bulls.

“It’s an honour to coach the Montreal Impact and return to MLS,” Henry said on the website.

“It’s a league I know well, in which I had some very nice moments. To be in Quebec, in Montreal, which has an enormous multicultural heritage, it’s extraordinary. I’ve always kept an eye on the club and now I’m here.”

The former Arsenal and Barcelona striker will take over from January from Colombian Wilmer Cabrera, who was interim coach following the sacking of Frenchman Remi Garde in August.

Henry’s first job as a coach at his former club Monaco in France’s Ligue 1 ended in humiliation when he was unceremoniously dumped after just three months in charge.

The team had plummeted to second-from-bottom in the league with just 15 points.

The experience, however, never dimmed his ambition to coach. 

Montreal Impact missed out on the 2019 playoffs, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference.