Thierry Henry praises Zidane's first steps in charge of Les Bleus

Thierry Henry comments on Zidane's start with the France team

Europe Today at 07:48

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Thierry Henry praises Zidane's first steps in charge of Les Bleus

Thierry Henry & Zidane / @x.com/lnstantFoot

French legend Thierry Henry praised the start made by his former teammate Zinédine Zidane in charge of the France team. The new head coach has won three of his first four matches in the 2026-2027 Nations League, along with one draw.

Zizou began his tenure with two 1-0 victories against Turkey and Belgium. Les Bleus then drew with Italy (1-1), before securing a convincing victory over the Belgians (4-1).

🚨 Thierry Henry 🇫🇷 analyse les Bleus de Zidane et relève des différences avec Deschamps ! 👀🇫🇷 🗣️ « Pour l’instant, je suis très heureux pour l’équipe et pour Zizou ! 😁 Zizou a davantage opté pour un jeu de possession, pour contrôler le ballon. Il voulait mettre la pression et conserver le ballon. C’est quelque chose qui n’était peut-être pas forcément le cas avant. Mais cela ne veut pas dire que Deschamps n’avait pas réussi. ❌ Ça a plutôt bien fonctionné pour Zidane depuis son arrivée, même si cela ne fait que quatre matches. » 👀 Henry soulève aussi une question importante : le retour de Mbappé ! 🗣️ « Ce sera intéressant de voir comment il va gérer tout ça lorsque Mbappé sera de retour. » 🔥 Entre la volonté de contrôler le jeu de Zidane et l’héritage de Deschamps, les Bleus pourraient entrer dans une nouvelle ère tactique ! 💬 Vous préférez une équipe de France basée sur la possession ou le jeu plus direct de Deschamps ? 🇫🇷⚽ 🎙️ CBS Sports Golazo
— MATHIS FOOTBALL (@mathis_football) October 14, 2026

Henry assesses Zidane's start with Les Bleus

During an appearance on the American channel CBS Sports, while analyzing the Champions League matches, Henry reflected on Zidane's first results.

“ Against Italy, we drew 1-1. It may not have been the perfect match, but overall, I would say that Zizou made a really good start, I have to admit. It is always better to start like this, because otherwise, people will start asking questions ”

He continued: “ But I am very happy for him, very happy for the team. We will be able to judge this team, I would say, without wanting to disrespect Italy, Turkey and Belgium, when we perhaps face Spain, Portugal or England. But for now, I am very pleased for the team. ”

The former Arsenal and FC Barcelona player also highlighted the tactical differences between Zidane and Didier Deschamps. In his view, the new head coach places greater emphasis on possession and positional play. " But Zizou has placed greater emphasis on positional play to control the ball " , he explained.

Henry concluded by discussing Da Cunha's role in midfield and Kylian Mbappé's expected return: " Da Cunha is comfortable on the ball, which explains his use in midfield to retain possession and apply pressure. This approach has worked quite well since Zidane's arrival, even though it is still too early to draw conclusions. It will be interesting to see how he manages all this when Kylian Mbappé returns. "

LE BILAN DES 4 PREMIERS MATCHS DE ZINEDINE ZIDANE À LA TÊTE DES BLEUS ! 🇫🇷👇 ✅ 4-1 vs Belgique 🇧🇪 🤝 1-1 vs Italie 🇮🇹 ✅ 1-0 vs Belgique 🇧🇪 ✅ 1-0 vs Turquie 🇹🇷 On en pense quoi ? 🤔 https://t.co/cLcVcAvuSY
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) October 5, 2026

How much does Zinédine Zidane earn with the France team?

Mohamed Rek |

Editorfr, ar, en

Mohamed Rek- sports content writer with over 10 years of experience creating football content in Arabic and French for platforms such as Foot Africa and Starafrica, combining accuracy, creativity, and audience engagement.