Thierry Henry knows a thing or two about being successful and a thing or two about the American soccer player. Henry played five seasons in MLS with the New York Red Bulls and is among the top 10 imports in MLS history.
Henry has also coached in MLS with his brief time at CF Montréal, it was rumored that the 1998 World Cup winner was also in the running to take over the USMNT coaching job before the federation rehired Gregg Berhalter.
In a candid interview with Kickin’ It’ show from CBS Sports along with USMNT great Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies, the legendary Gunners player spoke about the USMNT’s best player Christian Pulisic and that it’s time to take the kid gloves off for the winger at AC Milan.
Thierry Henry on Christian Pulisic
“As a creative player, if you don’t try to make mistakes, you cannot succeed. I can see on the national team, [Pulisic] feels like, ‘I can make mistakes.’ When you play for a big club, you touch the ball once, and it’s considered a mistake.
“The next time you touch it is 15 minutes later. People remember every time you touch the ball that you lost it. With the national team, he plays with that confidence. We were all creative players, so you have to take risks. If you feel like you can’t afford to lose the ball, then you might as well not play” Henry stated.
Pulisic, who got off to an electric start at AC Milan by scoring 2 goals in his first three games, then he had a poor outing against Inter Milan in the Milano derby which saw AC Milan manhandled 5-0.
In their Champions League opener, Milan again slept walked through a match against Newcastle United that they should have won but could not finish their chances. Pulisic came on as a second half substitute and had mixed reviews, the American took 2 shots on goal and was lively, but it was not enough to take home the three points.
Pulisic is slated to start over the weekend against Hellas Verona, a perfect opponent to get the talented American back on track.