New York Red Bulls issue response to Henry reports

The New York Red Bulls have denied reports linking former star Thierry Henry to their head coach position.

While the Red Bulls have been among the top of the Eastern Conference over the last half decade, and set a new MLS points record while winning the Supporters’ Shield last term, the team have gotten off to a poor start this season.

SIGN UP to watch MLS in Canada in 2019 on DAZN

The New York side have won just one of their opening seven MLS games and have just five points, leaving them 11th in the Eastern Conference.

The squad was also bounced from the Concacaf Champions League by Santos Laguna, 6-2 on aggregate, at the quarter-final stage.

Reports have suggested head coach Chris Armas, in his first full season at the helm, was likely to be replaced by Henry, who starred for the club from 2010-14.

However, Red Bulls sporting director Dennis Hamlett has issued a statement, shooting down those reports.

"Recent reports of Thierry Henry joining the New York Red Bulls are false,” Hamlett said in the statement.

Henry has been out of work since his brief tenure at Monaco came to an abrupt end in January 2019.

The retired striker had been hired to replace Leonardo Jardim in October 2018, with the club off to a terrible start that saw them fail to win a game after August.

However, results did not improve markedly under Henry, and after crashing out of the Champions League and remaining mired in the relegation zone, Monaco elected to fire him and bring back Jardim.

Currently, Monaco sit four points above the drop zone.

Prior to his time with Monaco, Henry was an assistant to Roberto Martinez with the Belgium national team, and was part of the staff that led the Red Devils to the World Cup semi-finals and a nation’s best third-place finish.

As a member of the Red Bulls as a player, Henry scored 51 goals in 122 appearances for the club, and helped them to the Supporters’ Shield in 2013.

Armas, who took over last season after Jesse Marsch departed for an assistant position at sister club RB Leipzig mid campaign, will look to snap the squad’s five-match winless streak on Saturday when they host FC Cincinnati.