Moggi: Why Henry failed at Juve...

By Football Italia staff

Luciano Moggi claims Thierry Henry failed at Juventus because he “suffered from tight marking and was sad when he had dropped to the bench.”

Moggi [pictured, left] was Juve’s general manager between 1994 and 2006, and he admits he had his eye on several Premier League stars before he left due to his role in the Calciopoli scandal.

“Both were great teams,” he told The Daily Mail, speaking of his Bianconeri side and Manchester United’s treble-winning team of 1999.

“Excellent managers, excellent Coaches and great players. The challenges between us and United were epic and Ferguson was a great Coach. We had the Italian Ferguson in Lippi.

“We were very close to Roy Keane when his contract was expiring with United. A phenomenal player. He would have made our midfield unbeatable.

“I always appreciated Alan Shearer, a unique striker who would have scored over 100 goals in a few years.

“And Steve McManaman there was much more than just a thought. He too was due at Juventus but in the end he preferred to go elsewhere.

“Then there was the story of Mark Bosnich. He seemed to be ours but then we changed our mind at the last moment after long reasoning. He would have done well in Italy too.”

Henry is arguably Arsenal’s greatest-ever player but scored just three goals in half-a-season with Juve in 1999, so why did it not work out for the Frenchman?

“We knew Henry would do very well in England and at Arsenal,” explained the 82-year-old.

“Arsene Wenger is a master and he too could have signed with Juventus to succeed Lippi.

“Henry in Italy suffered from tight marking and was sad when he had dropped to the bench. We knew he would do very well in England and it was like that.”

A similar situation occurred with Edwin van der Sar, who was replaced by Gianluigi Buffon but went on to star for United.

“Unfortunately it didn't go very well. But he confirmed himself as world No 1 at United and Fulham.

“Then we took Gianluigi Buffon in 2001 and there would be no room for Van der Sar but he would have been happy to stay with us.

“He ultimately left because we took a monster like Buffon.”

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