MONTPELLIER manager Michel Der Zakarian has slammed Thierry Henry for his criticism of Ligue 1.
Arsenal legend Henry, labelled the French first division as “boring” last week following a fleet of low scoring games.
Ligue 1 has seen just 25 goals scored in the last 17 games played in the competition including nine games with no more than one goal.
While only two teams have managed to score more than 17 goals in the league this season as a whole which is a stark contrast to the ten who achieved the feat in the Premier League.
Henry blasted the French division for its lack of excitement, but thinks it goes beyond just the ball finding the back of the net.
He said: “It isn’t even necessarily the lack of goals that are making Ligue 1 boring currently. There is no action, no shots on target.”
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But his criticism hasn’t been well received by Der Zakarian, whose Montpellier side have scored 15 goals in 12 league games and currently sit in 12th place.
The Armenian boss lambasted Henry’s thoughts as “nonsense” while taking a swipe at his short managerial stint with Monaco.
Speaking to Midi Libre, he said: “I don’t agree with Thierry Henry. Where has he managed? What did he do at AS Monaco?
“The guy works for the FFF and criticises French football. It’s nonsense!
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“It’s easy to criticise the league when you’re the manager of the France U21 team. He won 4-0 twice but against whom?
“He hasn’t beaten anyone. If he wins 5-0 against Spain or Italy, I’ll say well done.”
Henry previously took charge of Monaco for just 20 games before he moved to the MLS to take over as Montreal gaffer.
But he is now the manager of the France U21 team and has started life out with four wins and one loss in his opening five games.
Although his youngsters have only come out on top against nations they would be expected to beat including Cyprus, Bosnia and Slovenia.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
