Henry Left Frustrated By Errors and an Opportunity Missed

Thierry Henry’s post-match comments last evening centred mainly around Romell Quioto’s failure to convert the gilt-edged opportunity provided him by Sejdic’s perfect through pass.
The Impact coach who defended his goalkeeper Diop after two errors which cost victory against Chicago a week ago by declaring a striker missing in front of goal was as bad as a goalkeeping error, felt his top-scoring striker was trying to be too fancy, too pretty, with his finish which went wide.

Much can be said in the immediate aftermath of a game, and often comments are held back, but the Impact coach frustrated and clearly disappointed at getting nothing from the game at Subaru Park pulled few punches.

An agitated Henry stated, “I don’t think we deserved to lose tonight. Saying that we shouldn’t concede the goals we conceded also, I’ll be honest with you.

“Now if you watch the game they are nothing on us. All they did was play long balls. Most of the time they played counter. Which worked by the way. They are a very, very, very good team, that’s why they are at the top at the minute.

“But we had a one v one, an opportunity to come back into the game, and once again we don’t understand moments. Instead of burying the goal we think about trying to be pretty to score goals. You have to score. It’s not about being pretty.

“We’re running and trying to come back into the game. We have to be a bit more aggressive in terms of finishing and not try to be pretty.

“But in saying that, the team didn’t give up. They came back into it. They should’ve come back into it and I will say it, I didn’t think we deserved to lose today. But we did!”

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Amongst Henry’s raw, unfiltered, comments were positive words for the performance of Sejdic, who notched his first-ever MLS goal, but the coach expressed disappointment with the contributions of both Ballou-Tabla and Clement Bayiha, introduced as second-half substitutes.

It’s a little harsh on the pair. While Ballou-Tabla has often flattered to deceive there remains a certain level of expectancy around a player with talent who lists Barcelona as a former club. But rarely in a Montreal shirt has he delivered, and not since he returned to the club a year ago.

Neither man has had much game time in the last 12 months, so throwing them both into the fray in the second-half - remember Bayiha received only 6 mins plus stoppage time - and expecting dividends might have been a tad optimistic.