Thierry Henry admits he is still looking for “the right formula” at AS Monaco as he goes looking for that elusive first win as coach in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League meeting with Club Brugge.
UEFA Champions League, Group A
AS Monaco – Club Brugge KV 
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Monaco are in desperate need of a win at home to the Belgian side in order to lift confidence around the Stade Louis II, and keep alive their slim hopes of progressing from Champions League Group A.
Henry has overseen four games so far and is yet to register a win, with his team producing an insipid display in losing 1-0 at Stade de Reims at the weekend, a result which left them mired in the Ligue 1 Conforama relegation zone.
Instead, the France legend will want his side to play more like they did in the reverse fixture in Belgium two weeks ago, when they claimed a 1-1 draw, a result that improved their prospects of finishing in at least third place in the group.
“Things have been done, and it worked quite well in Bruges. The defeat at Reims is hard to accept because we didn’t show anything,” Henry said at Monday’s pre-game press conference.
Golovin sidelined
He is not helped by the injury problems which continue to pile up, though. Aleksandr Golovin has been ruled out with an ankle injury, and the Russian joins the likes of Danijel Subašić, Andrea Raggi, Jean-Eudes Aholou, Stevan Jovetic, Rony Lopes and Pietro Pellegri on the sidelines.
Henry added: “We are working on quite a lot of things, trying to change depending on which players are coming back from injury. We are trying to find the right formula.
“To have a Champions League match is a good thing because there is no time to mull things over. If we get a victory here we could get into a good dynamic. When you come away with a win you feel more confident.”
No excuses for Sidibé
At least World Cup winner Djibril Sidibé is set to return, likely to start as a right wing-back in a 3-4-1-2 formation as Monaco chase a first win in 15 games in all competitions.
“Each season is different. There have been a lot of changes, but that is not an excuse. I am not going to say I am not worried. It is up to us to turn the situation around,” Sidibé said.
“In previous seasons we played with lots of aggression and intensity at the start of matches. This season the players are affected. We haven’t managed to find our way, we have a lot of young players. But we have the quality and we just need to keep working, and I hope things will turn for us tomorrow.”
Failure to win here could confirm early elimination for one or both of these sides, with Atlético Madrid hosting Borussia Dortmund in Spain at the same time. Club Brugge arrive on the Mediterranean coast having won just one of their last seven matches. But coach Ivan Leko believes the Belgian champions have deserved more in Europe.
He said: “We’ve shown in three games that our football is good enough and that we deserved more than one point. I believe we can get a result.”
Probable teams
Monaco: Benaglio; Touré, Glik, Jemerson; Sidibé, Tielemans, Chadli, Henrichs; Diop; Sylla, Falcao (c)
Club Brugge: Letica; Poulain, Mechele, Denswil; Mata, Vormer (c), Nakamba, Vanaken, Diatta; Wesley, Rezaei
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