August 11, 2012
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
Henry says more intensity in training produced results against Houston

By Kristian R. Dyer
BigAppleSoccer.com Contributing Editor

Red Bulls defenders Stephen Keel and Connor Lade mix it up with Chicago’s Orr Barouch earlier this season. Forward Thierry Henry says that the team needs to be more aggressive, even in training, in order to keep getting results like Friday’s 2-0 win Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images

HARRISON, N.J. – The Red Bulls didn’t do anything special in their Friday night win under the lights of Red Bull Arena, not according to captain Thierry Henry.

Sure, they bested the same Houston team that, a week before, dominated them at BBVA Compass Stadium by a 2-0 score line that could have been much worse. And yes, the team played with far more energy and a much higher line of pressure. Certainly too, the club is more healthy and fit than during that loss in Houston.

But from the vantage point of Henry, who was animated earlier in the week about his team’s poor play in Texas, none of that mattered much. Instead, a week of training where the Red Bulls pummeled each other proved to be the proverbial “hair of the dog” for their Houston hangover.

“It wasn’t a Houston thing. It was Houston tonight but that’s how we’re going to try and play, in a right way having the right attitude. I don’t know if you guys were in training but it was kind of spicy at times,” Henry said.

“But hey, there’s never smoke without fire. Look at how we played today, on every single ball, arguing with everybody. Sometimes you need to have that.”

Henry certainly has a point.

It was a feisty week of training at Montclair State University for the Red Bulls, especially coming off their second straight loss on the road. There weren’t fights per se in training but players were far more physical and mixing it up a bit more, especially early in the week. By Thursday’s session, the players were a bit more lighthearted and laughing in session.

But Henry liked to see the sessions where the players were getting a bit more physical than usual and letting out their aggression on each other.

“If you want to win the league - I played in teams – everybody thought Patrick Vieira was a dirty boy -and at the end when we were lifting the cup or not, it didn’t really matter,” Henry said.

“Nobody liked playing against Patrick Vieira for a reason. He was kicking you off the ball. That’s the way it is.”