Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has chosen Kylian Mbappe over Erling Haaland when asked about who he would love to coach more.
A lot of bold claims have been made recently, and the latest addition is Thierry Henry. When asked who he would love to coach more, Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland, Henry chose Mbappe all the way.
During CBS Sports’ Champions League coverage, Henry’s colleagues, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards, asked him to choose the best player between Mbappe and Haaland. Henry was clear when he decided on the Frenchman.
Henry said about Mbappe:
“Kylian, for me, has more of a pass. I’ll explain. This is a guy that’s trying to play as a nine for one and a half years. They tried to do it at Paris Saint-Germain and it didn’t work out too much. Now he is doing it at Real Madrid, the biggest club in Europe. He has to adapt to that.”
He then proceeded to compare him to Haaland:
“This guy has been playing as a nine since the beginning of his career. We thought that they [Mbappe and Haaland] were going to be the two guys that were going to come after Messi and Ronaldo. But now, instead of having a confirmation of what they are, people are still questioning the way they play. But not the stats, because the stats are magnificent in terms of goals. Maybe not the two best, but they are top. People will argue. People will say Mbappe. Some people will say Vinicius. Some people will say Lamine Yamal is coming. Whatever. I’m just saying it is not a sure thing. We thought it was going to be a sure thing.”
The debate didn’t end there. Carragher proceeded to ask the Arsenal legend which of the two players he would love to coach as a manager. Once again, Henry chose Mbappe.
“Mbappe, all day. Because he does – or offers – different options. For a coach, he can play on the right, he can play on the left, and he can play in the middle. Can Haaland play any position other than a nine?”
Henry then went a step further. He asked his two colleagues who they would love to defend, Haaland or Mbappe. Both chose Haaland as the easier one to defend.
Richards said:
“I’d prefer Haaland. Because you always know he wants to run in behind. Mbappe can go both ways.”
Carragher agreed by saying, “I’m the same as Big Meeks.”
This fascinating debate kept going on as Carragher asked Henry his opinion about the many goals a player like Haaland is scoring:
“But I also want to ask you, if you were to coach – and in an ideal world, you want a striker to do everything – but if you’re the coach and you’ve got Haaland, and he doesn’t do these things, but he’s scoring you 30-plus goals a season, are you not happy with that? Do you not think, ‘well, okay, I’m going to get somebody else to do these other things, because I can’t take that away from my team?’”
Henry then made another bold claim that goals aren’t everything in soccer.
“The perfectionist side of my brain would be like, ‘you’re scoring goals, you’re always going to do that, but can you be better? Can you be better for the team? Can you do something when the team cannot help you?’ I keep on repeating that, and I don’t care. Scoring goals doesn’t mean you play well. That doesn’t mean you help your team the way you should have helped them. Sometimes your team-mates bail you out, more often than not. So yes, I would show him clips to make sure that he can be better at times. I think that you have to make a player better, not only take what he can bring you.”
While Henry’s opinion is to be respected, I have to disagree. Mbappe can play in several positions, but Haaland has the upper hand when it comes to scoring.
The Manchester City striker can be described as a machine. He can find the back of the net with the simplest touch and while you don’t expect it.
So while Henry believes that goals aren’t everything, at the end of the day, goals win you matches. Haaland’s scoring ability help you win matches as well. If Manchester City’s team as a whole improved, then Haaland will shine like he is used to.
The debate over who is better between Haaland and Mbappe won’t end anytime soon. Once the two players started to shine, everyone could see they would begin a debate on who the GOAT is. Similar to the already existing debate between Messi and Ronaldo.
So while Henry chose Mbappe, others might find Haaland to be the better player between the two. What can’t be argued against is that both players have qualities that make them unique.
Mbappe and Real Madrid will be preparing to go against Haaland and Manchester City once again in the second leg of their Champions League match.
Who would save his team might change the direction of the debate and add more to it.
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