Thierry Henry: "PSG is unplayable thanks to Luis Enrique's very clear philosophy"

Thierry Henry pulled no punches about Paris Saint-Germain under Luis Enrique: for the former France striker, the Parisian club has become a model to follow for all of European football.

Questioned by The Athletic following PSG’s 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Wednesday evening at Parc des Princes, Henry recalled the context in which the club had embarked on its rebuild. “When all those players — Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi — left two years ago, everyone was wondering: ‘My God, how will they recover?’” he said. “Then they recruited Bradley Barcola, then Désiré Doué. At the time, we couldn’t imagine these players would deliver such performances.”

For Henry, the credit belongs above all to the playing philosophy imposed by the Spanish coach. “Thanks to Luis Enrique’s very clear philosophy, they managed it. Do you remember what Ousmane Dembélé said? He declared: ‘At Paris Saint-Germain, if you don’t make the effort in running, you’re out.’ It’s that simple.”

The 1998 World Cup winner did, however, qualify his remarks by stressing that implementing the project had taken time. “It took Luis Enrique five or six good months to get this team running. We often forget that players need to be receptive to instructions. It’s a major aspect that we rarely talk about. If you’re a coach and your players are ready to do everything you ask them — while having a minimum of quality — you can go far. If they rebel even slightly, things can get complicated.”

Henry also warned against the reflex of recruitment as a solution. “Sometimes we focus too much on the idea of recruiting a certain player thinking he’ll transform the club,” he observed, implicitly making PSG a counter-example to this logic. With six goals scored in the opening matchday of the league phase, the Parisians certainly seem well on their way to confirming their status as contenders for their own European succession.