Thierry Henry has hailed Southampton manager Claude Puel.
Pundit Thierry Henry has told Sky Sports that he thinks his former fitness coach Claude Puel will do a ‘great job’ at Southampton.
Southampton lost 2-0 at home to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, bringing an end to a fine run of recent form from the Saints.
Before Sunday’s clash, Southampton had gone five Premier League games without defeat, winning three and drawing two of those five games to shoot up the Premier League table.
Southampton manager Claude Puel
After a slow start this season, which saw the Saints pick up just two points from their first four games under new manager Claude Puel, with many doubting the Frenchman early into the campaign.
Puel, 55, was appointed as Southampton’s new manager after Ronald Koeman left the club to join Premier League rivals Everton, and entered the Premier League as something of an unknown.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman
One man who knew plenty about Puel though was pundit Thierry Henry, who not only played alongside Puel for Monaco during the 1990’s, but also worked under him when Puel became Monaco’s fitness coach.
Puel is credited with helping Henry convert from being a winger into a striker, and the former Arsenal hero was asked on Sky Sports how far he thinks Puel can take Southampton this season.
Henry suggested that Puel is a ‘good manager’ and sets his team up to be solid at the back but expressive going forward, whilst praising him for giving chances to young players, with Sam McQueen and Matt Targett both featuring this term.
Thierry Henry
Henry added that he isn’t sure whether Puel can beat Southampton’s record Premier League points tally of 63, which came under Koeman last season, but is sure that he can do a ‘great job’ on the South Coast.
“He’s a good manager,” said Henry. “We’ve been seeing that since the beginning. He had some difficult games since the beginning of the season, but I like the way he sets up his team. He’s not scared to throw youngsters into it, he likes his team to be sound at the back, but he will always allow his team to play, like we saw against Man City – he had a really good go at them at the Etihad.”
“Is he going to beat the record of points that they had last year or do better than Koeman? I don’t know, but moving forward, I think he can do a great job,” he added.
Do you think Puel can beat Koeman’s points record?
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