HARRISON, N.J. – It appears as if all is well and good in New York Red Bulls land.
A day after head coach Mike Petke and Thierry Henry were involved in a heated exchange that led to teammates and staff members separating the two, Petke stated that he and his captain had already moved past Thursday’s ugly moment in practice.
The first-year head coach and Henry were present at training on Friday, a day before the Red Bulls host rivals D.C. United (Saturday, 8 pm ET, NBC Sports), and both of them were seen chatting lightly on several occasions during New York’s hour-long session at Red Bull Arena.
“Thierry Henry is one of the most passionate and fiery people I’ve ever been associated with and, unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 13 years, [you’d know] I’m pretty passionate and lose my head a lot, too,” said Petke. “Very normal stuff. There’s really nothing to report, nothing to report. It happens all over the world.
“Thierry and I were talking fine today and we had a great conversation after practice, both on the same page, both ready to roll.”
Petke may have said that he and Henry buried the hatchet following Thursday’s incident, but interestingly enough the Frenchman trained with the second team during an 11-v-11 scrimmage. Petke, however, said not too read too much into that.
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“It wasn’t a full image of what we’re going to see,” said Petke of the scrimmage. “He is available for tomorrow and we’ll determine [if he starts] some time before game time.”
Henry did not speak to the media on Friday.
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
