'Guardiola opened my eyes' - Thierry Henry makes tactical admission about Man City boss

Thierry Henry admits that Pep Guardiola opened his eyes to the benefits of pressing as a striker as he looks to take the Manchester City manager's advice into management.

Henry was named as manager for the France under-21 side in August and will take charge of the country's team at the 2024 summer Olympics. It is his third job as a manager, following spells at Monaco and Montreal Impact - he has also twice been an assistant with the Belgian national team.

The 46-year-old enjoyed a long and successful career working under some of history's best-ever managers. He broke into the Premier League picture at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger before joining Guardiola in Barcelona.

Looking back on those who inspired him to go into management, the former forward admits that Wenger flicked the switch, however it was Guardiola who made the breakthrough.

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"Being a manager is about asking the question: can you make your players more intelligent, understand football a bit better?" Henry told Ligue1.com. "Let's use Pep Guardiola as an example, I thought I was good at football but when I arrived there at Barcelona I just thought, wow, what is he talking about?

"Arsène Wenger, when I arrived to Arsenal, opened up my spirit and my mind as a continuation of what I learned at the academy at Clairefontaine. Pep Guardiola opened my eyes.

"It was him that made me understand that pressing was good. As an attacker in general, and you know this well, that you don't normally want to do these things. But then I developed a taste for pressing high and appreciate another area of the game."

Guardiola and Henry only spent two seasons together at Barcelona, with the Catalan taking