Thierry Henry is wasting no time in recruiting his own staff at Monaco
Football managers all have their tried and tested assistants, coaching staff, even kit men follow coaches with whom they have a strong bond from club to club.
For a young coach stepping into the world of management, recruiting a team of coaches is always a risk. Without the experience of having discovered who they work well with and who they don’t, any hire is somewhat of a gamble.
Thierry Henry recently made the jump from assistant manager of Belgium to take over from Leonardo Jardim as head coach of AS Monaco, and brought in his first coach, from Arsenal of all places.
Kwame Ampadu, who has served as Arsenal’s U18s coach over the past two years, has joined Monaco as Henry’s assistant manager.
Ampadu has worked in Arsenal’s academy since 2012 and worked with Exeter City’s under 18s. His move to Monaco has left Arsenal, and their academy manager Per Mertesacker, with a problem of how to replace the coach.
Football.London report that the club have held a meeting today to decide how to proceed regarding the U18s vacancy left by Ampadu.
Henry has also recruited  Benfica U23 coach Joao Carlos Valado Trahlo to his coaching staff, who face the task of recovering a poor start to the season, as Monaco lie 18th in Ligue 1 with just six points from nine matches.
After their title winning squad from the 2016/17 season was picked apart by Europe’s financial elite over the past two summers, Monaco’s team now looks unrecognisable, with the exception of captain Radamel Falcao, Djbril Sidibé and Kamil Glik staying put.
Henry has taken on a big challenge in his first managerial role, but has said he is looking forward to taking on the task ahead at the club where he started his playing career.
“In the first place, I thank AS Monaco for giving me the opportunity to coach the team of this club which is so special to me,” he told the club’s official website.
“I am very happy to come back to AS Monaco and extremely determined to meet the challenges ahead.”
