Top Stories

Henry’s DCU-RBNY postgame reaction

Comments

  1. I loved! his response to agudelo’s goal, “he was in the six yard box, he scored, that’s what we’re suppossed to do”. Kid doesn’t need to go getting and big head over a single great goal. He doesn’t need to end up like Adu or Altidore

    Reply
  2. Love this interview.

    After scoring a great goal and having everyone talk about how he’s the next big thing, Agudelo has to go to practice tomorrow and be told, “Yes, you scored a goal. It was in the six yard box. That’s your job.” by one of the great players of his generation.

    Will be a great reality check for him while the entire U.S. soccer community talks about how amazing he is.

    Reply
  3. I just watched this. And I watched the CNN video posted today from an interview preseason. And his demeanor is identical. He’s not mad. He’s not angry. That’s just how he speaks.

    Reply
  4. This post. +1

    I’d be “surly” too talking to reporters who just last week labeled me as a “flop.”

    Does he still look like a flop Henry haters?

    Reply
  5. During the ESPN interview right after the game he seemed fine. Quiet, a little boring…exactly like he always is.

    In that clip he seems kinda tired of it all – the questions are ones that he’s heard for weeks – and then obviously he didn’t find the beard question funny. But he doesn’t come across as mad or anything. More like he’s rolling his eyes.

    I also find the “interview in the locker room” thing weird in sports. Not sure why we do it here in the US.

    Reply
  6. I’m by no means an expert, but pretty much all of the interviews I’ve seen he’s been like this! This one is maybe a tad quieter, and he got annoyed at the beard question and looked like he was sighing at the repeated questions about fitness, finishing, etc… but this seemed pretty standard to me…

    Reply
  7. Whatever! Maybe he had a hot date waiting, or his sack itched, or he was just being French. Truth is he was a little serious but not disrepectful in the least.

    Reply
  8. I remember hearing Thierry talk about how players who grew up in less economically advantaged situations and played on the street have a hunger for goals. He brought up himself, Rooney, some others. The anger and hunger is back baby haha

    Reply
  9. “Talk tactics, preparation, halftime, changes, etc. Those are questions that are going to create feature stories worth reading. If all you ask are his opinions, the media are only going to end up writing Henry Op-Ed pieces masked as a news story.”

    Oh, for God’s sake. There’s room for serious tactical analysis, and there’s room for lighthearted questions about beards.

    It’s sports. It’s culture. It’s entertainment. It’s not a freaking presidential press conference.

    There are lots of different kinds of media consumers. There are people who want to dig deep into nitty-gritty tactical stuff, and there are people who are curious why a onetime Gillette spokesman decided to grow an unruly beard. There’s nothing “amateur” in asking about either one. If you think there is, then you don’t actually know anything about journalism, “high school” or otherwise.

    Reply
  10. ps. he’s french. what do you expect? he’s probably more worried about making his dinner reservation at Morimoto’s new restaurant!

    Reply
  11. “SBI-Who exactly is getting ‘pissy’?”

    Thank you. Exactly. I never cease to be amazed by some people’s ability to completely misinterpret and misconstrue tone and meaning. And people do it all the time in regards to the media — “the media is feeling like X, the media is behaving like Y.” It’s laughable because the interpretation is so far off-base.

    Reply
  12. +1 for the locker comment. MLS should have standards for that, although I’ve seen it done in MLB and other big leagues.

    Reply
  13. I highly doubt he spends the time reading articles. Most sports stars say they don’t pay attention to the media and don’t bother reading articles unless it’s a big publication taking a potshot at their personal life.

    No disrespect to anyone, but the thought that he wakes up every morning to check on Foxsoccer.com, MLSsoccer.com, or the like or that teammates bring it up during training is a bit odd sounding. At least from the books/talks I’ve had with players, that sort of thing doesn’t happen. So that he has a personal gripe to a single piece doesn’t seem like Henry.

    (SBI-What players have you spoken to exactly? For every five coaches and players who say they don’t read any media about four of them absolutely do. In fact, I can recall once visiting the training facility of a Premier League team and seeing players showing each other newspaper articles written about them (no, they didn’t know I was a reporter). Nobody is saying these guys read things religiously, but in many instances they’re definitely aware of what’s being written. I agree with you that the notion that Henry read something I wrote and it pissed him off is silly, as is the idea that he’s scouring soccer sites, but based on Henry’s comments, it’s clear he was aware that the NY soccer media, as a whole, had been critical of him and it clearly bothered him.)

    Reply
  14. To be fair, beyond personal attacks, I don’t see him caring much about the media and what they say. Sadly, our media attention is still niche when it comes to soccer so he won’t lose too much sleep on a critique.

    (SBI-Believe what you want, but the fact is Henry specifically mentioned media criticism during the post-game interview (though it didn’t appear in this video). He pointed out that media were being critical in the early games but now “you love us”. He revealed pretty clearly that he was aware of media criticism. Nobody’s saying the guy is sitting at home with press clippings from multiple outlets, but he’s clearly aware and based on his reactions last week, and his attitude this week, the fan and media criticism has definitely help put a chip on his shoulder that some could definitely argue have helped him play better.)

    Reply
  15. I thought his mentality came across as very French – talking about the team over individual moments. I’ve never seen a happy Henry after a single, beginning of season game. It’s a “cup” game in some ways, but it’s an artificial cup most us fans refer to as a doorstop.

    He obviously wanted to make sure the media weren’t going to twist his words as he feels the media have bent what he’s been saying/doing/not doing in a way he doesn’t feel is justified (right or wrong).

    I think his excitement or lack thereof is part of the problem in being a DP – he’s used to epic matches against United, Real, games with bite and attention. I’m sure it’s not as exciting to go to our beloved RFK, half empty with barely adequate stadium features.

    So whereas I’m a DC fan so I’m gutted with the result, he hasn’t experienced or seen enough to justify a rivalry beyond us being on the East Coast.

    Reply
  16. Well they are terrible questions, the kind we’d come up with in High School Journalism. To me journalists need to be unearthing pieces of information – asking about “the beard” or “how was Juan’s goal” is amateur reporting. And he was obviously trying to direct the interview toward the team and how the team as a whole are doing – let’s see questions exploring that aspect of NYRB.

    Talk tactics, preparation, halftime, changes, etc. Those are questions that are going to create feature stories worth reading. If all you ask are his opinions, the media are only going to end up writing Henry Op-Ed pieces masked as a news story.

    He seems an honorable guy, fair on the result of the game. He’s not going to over-hype individual moments nor does he seem like he’s going to get caught out with answers that the media would twist. Respect earned to me.

    Reply
  17. Lo siento mi amigo…BUT…as an athlete who has had a microphone shoved in my face while trying to towel off I support TFC in belief that the locker room is supposed to be a sanctuary. Interviews should be done afterwards when the player is ready.

    Reply
  18. Ives, he is clearly upset woth you regarding a recent article where you called him out on his poor play. Dont have the link but you implied it and did not say it directly, you used the supporters view of the whole thing to prove your point. One can easily interpret that as a shot to Henry even though you were just explaining how most supporters felt at the time.

    Cheer up Ives, dpnt be so sensitive at least you lnow Henry is reading your stuff and takes it seriously.

    (SBI-I doubt Henry is reading my stuff, and why on earth do you think I’m being “sensitive”? As much as I’d love to believe Henry reads my work and it’s motivating him, I’d say the more reasonable theory is that Henry was aware of criticism in general in the media, as well as from fans, and it has sparked him to play harder. It’s also why he’s got a chip on his shoulder these days and how he can have so much more of an attitude after big wins lately than he did early in the season when the team was struggling. I give him credit for stepping up and getting fired up by the criticism, but I’m not about to take a single shred of credit for it. I’m also not sitting here calling him an evil person because he had an attitude and was surly in the interview session. Just pointing out that he was, in fact, pretty surly and had an attitude.)

    Reply
  19. I like it when the media gets all pissy because some athlete that they’ve trashed repeatedly doesn’t want to play nice with them.

    (SBI-Who exactly is getting “pissy”?)

    Reply
  20. he seems kinda pissed off with the defense honestly, the way he kept saying that they got lucky and DC deserved a smaller margin. I think Coundoul came up big and deserves the shut out

    Reply
  21. Great interview. I respect the brace and the swagger. If he takes that approach though, he will have to live with the media response through the goal scoring games and the tougher results. I don’t think he will have a problem with that.

    Reply
  22. not sure i get what everyone’s upset with. I know that he signed a big contract with the MLS, but the contact the media has with players here in the MLS is unlike anything in Europe. It would be unheard of for players to be interviewed like this in the locker room. Was he a bit cold with his answers? yes, but i didn’t take away any attitude, just a guy thats tired of the questions.

    Reply
  23. Say what you will about liking to be interviewed or no, but this guy is pure class. Sports reporters are famous for asking STUPID questions – except Ives of course :-). His patience with them is classy.

    (SBI-Henry was giving attitude through the entire interview session. To good questions and bad ones. And for the record, I’m the one who I asked him about the beard, just a fun throwaway question at the end of a long interview session. He could have offered some insight, or cracked a joke, but chose instead to cop an attitude about it.)

    Reply
  24. Good to see this side of Henry. This attitude from him will bring the best out of everyone around him, so refreshing compared to Golden Ball’s teleprompter esque interviews.

    Love it, Love Thierry

    Reply
  25. Nice to see a guy who is all business. Much better than watching the so-called “big 3” from the Miami Heat giggle and pat themselves on the back every time they see a camera.

    Reply
  26. Henry should love the American media. They won’t be a bunch of jerks to him like the British media. British media is brutal and weaselly.

    Reply
  27. love your site and reporting Ives! But not sure how that is an “angry” Henry (like your fox soccer piece says). Seems like… The usual henry. His interviews are always like that.

    (SBI-Not sure what interviews you’ve been watching of Henry but that was easily the most surly he’s been after a game, and that was AFTER a big win. Seemed odd for him to have such an attitude, but it seems like he’s chosen to fashion a chip for his shoulder out of the criticism of the first few weeks. Whatever works for him.)

    Reply

Leave a Comment