Thierry Henry criticised Vinicius Junior’s performance in Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Alexis Mac Allister’s goal in the 61st minute was enough to secure the victory for Arne Slot’s side at Anfield and handed Madrid their first loss in the Champions League this season.
Madrid, who failed to score in a game for the first time this season, struggled to create chances against Liverpool with both Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe failing to register a shot on target.
Henry was unhappy with Vinicius Jr’s performance in particular as the former Arsenal, Barcelona and France forward took aim at the Brazilian winger for his refusal to attack against Conor Bradley.
‘I do not understand it. You have to play with what’s in front of you, you have to play the moment,’ Henry told CBS Sports.
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‘And even if there’s nobody in the box, as you said, at least the opposing team has dropped 30 yards back and then you can give the ball to your midfielder, who might have a strike from outside the box.
‘But I don’t know, sometimes people try to be cute when there’s no need to be cute, if there is space, just give the ball, recycling the ball… sometimes it’s too scripted.
‘You have an opportunity at the beginning, for example, Vinicius Jr had Conor Bradley for the first five to seven minutes, and then he let him breathe. Why do you let him breathe? Have a go until he gets a yellow card and then he can’t defend in the same way, but that didn’t happen.
‘When we watched the game, Vinicius Jr received the ball in a one-on-one after a good battle in the first five minutes against Conor Bradley, and he passed it back to his left-back to receive it back… and now it was a one-vs-three.
‘Then he attacked alone against the three of them, and I thought, wait, do the math. You had a one-on-one, try to see what you can do with that.
‘Why do you move the ball back so it comes back to you and you can play a one-vs-three? I just don’t get it at times.’
Former Madrid forward Gareth Bale agreed with Henry’s verdict as he said: ‘I think it was that spark that Thierry and I were talking about, that we didn’t see Mbappe and Vinicius in the final third work a bit of magic and bring Madrid back into the game. It was a bit disappointing that in that final third there really wasn’t that kind of quality that you expect from Real Madrid players.
‘It’s frustrating, I think they complicate things maybe.
‘Sometimes they just need to try and test the defender. They’re clearly faster than anyone else on the pitch.
‘But I think maybe they don’t do it because there’s no one else in the box waiting for the crosses. Maybe they need that focal number nine.’
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