Thierry Henry is still very much learning on the job. For all of his experiences as a player, and he has more than most, the French icon is still growing into the role of head coach.
His spell at Monaco showed that there was much to learn, and he chose Montreal as his place to do that.
His early returns have been pretty solid. The Impact performed well enough in the CONCACAF Champions League and impressed in their first two matches of the MLS season. The first of those matches was a win over Bruce Arena's New England Revolution, with Henry's Impact shaking off the fatigue from a CCL match just days prior to pick up a statement victory.
On Thursday night, the two sides met once again in their first match of the MLS is Back tournament. While the prior meeting was a sign of progress for both Henry and his team, Thursday's match served as a reminder that there's still a long way to go for all involved.
Henry's Impact were undone by Arena's Revs 1-0 on Thursday night, as the Canadian side started the MLS is Back tournament with a defeat. By and large, it was a frustrating performance for Montreal, one where the team looked disjointed and lethargic for long stretches.
Some of that, obviously, is excusable. This is a team playing its third league match under a brand new manager in the wake of a four-month-long break. No one expects any team to come out of the gates perfect, but Henry was the first to admit he expected more from his team on Thursday evening.
"We didn't know where we were going to be physically, but that's not an excuse," Henry said after the match. "There's one thing that always I've been talking to the team and talk about before this game is that we do fight, and you saw that before in the beginning of the season. And then at the beginning of this [tournament] again, that didn't happen. This is not an attack against anyone but that didn't happen tonight."
He added: "I'm not saying it won't happen again. You have to be honest, give credit to New England. We beat them once and they beat us tonight. They wanted it more than us. We made too many mistakes under no pressure, individually and as a team."
Throughout his first handful of matches as Impact manager, Henry has showed a preference for a three, or five, at-the-back system, whatever you want to call it. Depending on the situation, Henry's Impact have shown the ability to move in and out of both setups, pressing differently in matches. That system has worked, frustrating opponents, while allowing the Impact to generate a better-than-expected attack going forward.
In the first match against the Revs, the Impact relied on the directness of Zachary Brault-Guillard to terrorize the Impact's backline. Starting as the right wingback, the Canadian international was able to stretch the field, while also intelligently slipping into the pockets of space created by a three-back system.
On Thursday, though, Brault-Guillard started on the bench, with Samuel Piette taking his place. Piette is a midfielder by trade, but it was easy to see Henry's logic. Piette was meant to tuck into the midfield when applicable, giving the Impact numbers to battle the Revs' 4-2-3-1. It didn't happen. Piette was constantly pinned back and was largely ineffective.
At halftime, Henry displayed two traits that will be vital to his managerial career: tactical flexibility and, more importantly, the ability to admit he got things wrong. Brault-Guillard came on, Piette moved into the midfield. It was a needed change, even if it didn't have the desired result.
In the 56th minute, the Revolution finally got their much-deserved goal, with Gustavo Bou firing an absolute missile into the back of the net for what proved to be the game's lone finish. It was a goal that probably should have come several times in the first half, as Clement Diop made one solid save while also nearly being chipped twice.
Matthew Stith and Devin L'Amoreaux
Thursday's theme, though, centered around the Revs' Carles Gil, last season's MLS Newcomer of the Year. The Spanish star created 12 chances, including the assist on Bou's goal, as Gil routinely terrorized the Impact backline. Henry's Impact had no answer for the Revs' playmaker, even after the halftime switch.
The Impact's best chance, meanwhile, came in the dying moments as the team went more direct. Ballou Tabla, back in Montreal following a stint with Barcelona, nearly stole a point with a spectacular shot from outside the box. Matt Turner got a fingertip to it, and that was that.
Despite the lack of attacking threat and despite Gil's relative freedom to dissect the Impact defense, Henry said that Thursday's match wasn't won by a system or plan. Instead, it came down to individual moments and, in those moments, he felt his side was second best.
"If you don't fight and you don't win battles, and you lose balls, there is no need even to talk about tactics," he said. "There was nothing to do about tactics today. It was about desire that we didn't have that, and it can happen.
"I'm not questioning the desire of my players but, tonight, it wasn't there."
Henry's Impact will now have several days to work out the kinks before what will be his biggest test thus far. Up next is the Canadian Classique, a clash with rivals Toronto FC. The reigning Eastern Conference champions earned four points from their first two matches, same as Henry's Impact, and, although we haven't seen them just yet in this Orlando tournament, its a safe bet to say that TFC is among the favorites going forward.
The Impact, meanwhile, are not. Despite how well they've played, this is very much still a team in flux. Henry is still trying to figure out his best team and the team is still trying to figure out Henry. There are still holes in this team, and it will take time to fill them.
Already in need of a result to keep hopes of a knockout run, the Impact will need a result in that game against TFC. In order to get it, though, they'll need to be better, both players and manager.
"Time will tell. A lot of teams came with different schedules in terms of preparation," Henry said. "You just have to adapt to whatever comes our way. When we play, we're going to try and be ready, and in a better way than we were tonight."
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