Henchoz on LFC, life & next boss

Liverpoolfc.tv caught up with the cultured Swiss defender during a one day break from the football in Pattaya, Thailand, to answer a selection of questions submitted by Reds fans on Twitter - including just who he thinks should be the next Liverpool manager.  

James ‏@James7Draper
@LFC #askhenchoz How do you rate Martin Skrtel?

"I think he had a great season. He was one of the best performers for Liverpool. He's good. He's fast, he's strong and he can score goals from set-pieces which is very important. He's also very comfortable on the ball, so that makes him a good defender."

Are you surprised at just how much he's improved?

"Yes. When he was first in the Liverpool team, I wasn't totally convinced about him. You have to remember how difficult it is as a defender when you come to the English game. I know that from experience. When I first came over from the German Bundesliga - a league which is quite physical and probably the nearest league in terms of style to the Premier League in Europe - I remember how hard I found it at first. You really have to adapt and while some players get there quicker than others, some players never manage to adapt and they are the ones who fail in the Premier League. With Martin, I think it took him a little while but he's come through that difficult transition and now he's very strong and quick and that's what you want from a centre-back. "

lishyenloves1D ‏@lishyen
@LFC #askhenchoz when did you realise you would make it big in football?

"Probably when I was 17 or 18 and had just started to play in the first-team back in Switzerland. That's when I realised I was about to make it and sign my first professional contract. I was probably 17 and a half."

So, even when you were 16, you still weren't sure that you might make a career out of football?

"No, I wasn't sure it would happen for me. It's difficult when you are 15 or 16 because there are lots of other players who are maybe as good as you and not everyone can make it. The difference between those who make it and hose who don't make it is very small. So for me, obviously I was hoping it would happen, but until you start to really play first-team football, I don't think you can allow yourself to think you've made it as a footballer.

"That's the problem with a lot of the young lads these days. They think because they're playing for an Academy, because they play Under-16 for Liverpool or another club, they think they've made it and they're a footballer. No! They've made nothing really because they could still end up playing non-league football. Some of the young players today are too arrogant but it's a wider society problem we're living in. The young people watch the TV and think that's how life should be. Young people see MTV Cribs and they want that lifestyle and those things. I think they forget sometimes that they need to earn those things. I see the same problem in football and it's sad."

Karl Matchett ‏@karlmatchett
@LFC did you think the ref was going to give a handball, penalty and red card in the '01 final vs arsenal?! 

"Actually, no. It all happened very quickly, so it happened and the game moved on in a matter of seconds. There was no time to think about it during the game. I never really moved my hand; the ball came to me and hit my arm. When you're a defender in that situation on the goal line, you try and make yourself as big as possible to block a shot. I never moved my arm in the direction of the ball to stop it though - it hit my elbow, I think, and that's why I wasn't scared that the referee was going to give a penalty and a red card."

keithchin ‏@Monk3yMag1k
Who's the best centre-back you've played with? #askhenchoz @LFC

"That must be Sami Hyypia. I think Sami as a centre-back was very strong in every area of his game. When you play as a centre-back partnership, you must feel very comfortable together and have a very good understanding of each other's game. You can have two very good centre-backs who simply can't play together because as a partnership they are incompatible. It just doesn't work. With Sami, it worked very well."

Danny Partington ‏@DannyP85New
@LFC Who was the best player you played against #askhenchoz

"I would say Thierry Henry. He was the most difficult player I ever faced. What made him difficult to play against was the fact that he could do so many different things. When you play against a very quick striker, you know what he is going to do. You give him a bit of space and you know that every time he is going to run at the channels or try and get beyond you. You may not be able to stop him every time but at least you know what he is planning and then you can adapt your game.

"Thierry could do that because he was very, very quick but he wouldn't do it every time. He had a great shot on him, so he could hit one from 30 yards and score. Technically he was very good, so he could try to take you on and he was also quite tall and quite strong, so he could win headers, hold the ball up and try and push you aside in the box. It was because of all those hings that made him such a difficult opponent."

Matty Hankinson ‏@MattyHankinson
Did you enjoy your time at Anfield?

"Yes, it was the best time of my career. Obviously the football made it the best time, but also the time I spent living in Liverpool. I wasn't at Liverpool for nine years but that's how long I lived there because I didn't move away when I was at Wigan and Blackburn. I lived in Crosby and I loved it. I loved the atmosphere of the city as a whole and that's why I never wanted to move away.  When I left Anfield, I wanted to find a club near Liverpool so I could continue living here. Liverpool was, and still is, a big part of my life. I enjoyed every minute."

lishyenloves1D ‏@lishyen
@LFC #askhenchoz when you were younger, who was your idol?
"I used to really love Michel Platini. I admired the way he played football and how effortless he seemed to make it look."  

Fθυzч ‏@FouzyJr
Do you miss being at Liverpool ?! #askhenchoz

"Yes, of course I do, but it's over and that's life. It goes very quick and that's the hardest part to come to terms with. When you are playing, you're caught up in it and you don't appreciate the privileges you have. You never think its going to end and it's only when it's over, do you look back and reflect on how lucky you actually were and how fast it went. I miss it and if I could turn back the clock, I'd do it like that [clicks fingers]."

Whilst it can never compare with playing for the first team, does representing Liverpool on these EPL Masters tours and getting together with some of your old team-mates remind you of what you once had?

"Yes. I think it's about being with the lads who shared the same experience as you. That's something I found difficult when I stopped playing football. After football, you meet lots of new people but they haven't shared the same things you have and they can't understand why those things are so important to me. We can't discuss the feeling or emotions I experienced as a player for Liverpool.

"Sometimes I find it frustrating because they will say things or speak about things that they don't know about. Sometimes it is annoying; sometimes it is frustrating but that's why these trips are good because we know that when we are here together, we know what we are talking about. Some of the players here in Thailand have played for Liverpool, some of them have played for Manchester United, some have played for other clubs, but we've all played at the top level for big clubs so we all can share those experiences."

lishyenloves1D ‏@lishyen
@LFC #askhenchoz most memorable experience as a red?

"For me, it was probably winning the FA Cup in 2001. When I was growing up, the FA Cup was the game of the year. Even though I lived in Switzerland as a boy, the FA Cup was the most important game for me. To grow up and go onto win it was exceptional. Ten years before I won it, I was probably a teenager at home cheering in front of the TV, so to think a decade later I'm winning it as a Liverpool player... That was Ike a real dream come true moment."

During the game, were you thinking that this dream is turning into a nightmare?

"No, not really. On the day we got more or less battered by Arsenal but they only managed to score one goal. They should have had another two or three goals and then the game would have been over but because they didn't make that possession count, it always left us with a chance. There were times on the field during that match that no matter how hard we tried, it felt like the game was slipping away from us. Then it all changed. Michael scored the first and suddenly, from nowhere, we were back in the game. Then, obviously a few minutes later, he practically scores on his own and we win it. For 85 minutes I can't remember [David] Seaman having to make a save and still he ended up with a losers' medal."

Espen Bråthen ‏@ebraathen
@LFC Stephane, why did you always look tired in a game after just five minutes?

[Laughs] "Yes, that's true! It was probably because I was tired! No, seriously, I don't know why I looked like that. Maybe the blood just goes to my face and I look flush. Every individual looks different when they walk, talk, run, whatever."

Reza Pahlevi ‏@rezapingo
@LFC which one is better, you-Hyppia or Skrtel-Agger? #askhenchoz

"That's a very difficult question to answer. At the end of the day, when you play at centre-back, it's all about how many goals you concede and if you can make the difference for the team, then you are a good centre-back. As a centre-back, the best win you can have is a 1-nil victory. For a striker, it's completely different - they're happy with a 5-4 win if they score. I'd always rather we won 1-nil and got three points than if we conceded four goals but still managed to pick up three points. I'd be gutted if we'd conceded that amoun of goals in a single match. So, to answer that question, you'd need to look a how many goals myself and Sami conceded per game and do the same for Martin and Daniel Agger. That's the only way you can judge a centre-back partnership and it needs to be over a number of seasons before you can get a true picture."

Ry ‏@DjimiTraore
@LFC #askhenchoz did you ever consider being a goalkeeper?

"No. Never."

Aaron Willis ‏@azza_willis
@LFC Hi Stephane, what have you been up to since retiring from football #AskHenchoz

"I moved back to live in Switzerland, where I coach a team over there. I am still doing my coaching badge with the English FA and I am hoping to coach again a team but not necessarily in Switzerland. I would be happy to have the chance to coach a team that doesn't necessarily have to be a 'first' team - it could be an Academy team within the professional structure of a club."

Was it always your plan to move back to Switzerland?

"Having a family and spending 15 years abroad, I'd think about all my family, my dad, everybody living in Switzerland and I felt I would like to be a bit nearer to them and that's probably the only reason why I moved back there." 

Dave Walters MPowerP ‏@WaltersMPowerFM
@LFC #askhenchoz Who was faster over 50 yards, Sammi or yourself.

"Over 50 yards? We never tested it so it's hard but I think it would have been more or less the same." 

Pnumwaan ^^* ‏@pnumwaan
@LFC #askhenchoz what's your favorite food and place in Thailand? Thanks

Green Thai Curry. I love it. And my favourite place? I haven't travelled that much in Thailand. I liked Bangkok and Chiang Mai was good."  

Dylan Human ‏@DylanJHuman
#askhenchoz who would u like as liverpool's next manager?

"I would give a chance to [Roberto] Martinez. Why? I like the man. I Iike his style of play, which I think it would suit Liverpool. He has experience of managing in the Premier League and he is the right age for now. If you give him a bit of time, I think he can be successful at Liverpool.

"If he gets the job, don't expect him to deliver in six months, it will take much longer than that but I like his philosophy. He knows the game very well and he's not coming with a very big name to do one or two final seasons in club football, like would be the case with someone like Capello. I wouldn't see the point of bringing in someone like Capello because Liverpool know they need to rebuild and will probably need new players but they might not have the money to go and buy the very best players. If you can't buy the absolute best players, you need a manager who can not only spot players but develop them as well.

"Some people talk about how he has never managed a big club before but one day he has to manage a bigger club. That's how football generally works. Managers do well at smaller clubs and attract interest from bigger clubs. At Swansea, he had the team playing nice football and at Wigan, with the squad they got, they have done tremendously well. They've beaten Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal - all the big clubs.

"You have to take a bit of a risk when you employ a new manager so if your only concern is that he has not managed a top club before, I would be ready to take that risk on him."

Martin Maher ‏@Maher10Maher
#askhenchoz whats your proudest moment in a Liverpool shirt?

"Winning the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup in the space of three days was fantastic for me. The FA Cup because it meant something special to me - as a boy, I would dream of winning the trophy. In the UEFA Cup, I wasn't particularly happy with the 5-4 scoreline. As a defender you can never be happy with that but at the end of the day it was the final and the only thing that matters in the final is to win. Not many Swiss people have won the UEFA Cup so I was very proud of my achievement." 

Holmes Apprentice! ‏@Rezaedr
@LFC how is it on South-East Asia? Do u like it? #askhenchoz

"Yes. I like it. That's why I'm always up here if I can be. I love the people, I love the weather." 

NEERAJ NAMBIAR ‏@neerajrn
@LFC 1 player you wish #LFC had signed? #askhenchoz

"Honestly, there were many! There were so many good players. When you play, you always wish that your team is going to sign big players. Maybe Thierry Henry? 

Fikri Maulana ‏@mfikri29
@LFC are you looking forward to give some coaching clinic in Indonesia with God & Barnes? #askhenchoz

"Yeah, that's something I like to do. I did it on Wednesday in Chiang Mai and I love coaching so that's always something I'm looking forward to doing." 

Mark Swain ‏@I_Am_A_Twit_
@LFC Does Liverpool hold a special place in his heart? If so, what in particular put it there. #askhenchoz

"For me, Liverpool is the club that I hold in my heart and what made it special was the fans. I knew about them before but it's only when you join the club that you realise just how good they are. Unless you are born in Liverpool, like Carra, Stevie, or Robbie, you don't necessarily realise. Yes, you know about it. Yes, you know it's a big club. But you don't realise until you actually play for the team and you live in the city. Then you realise what this club means.

"For me, the fans are so passionate and when you play for the club you feel that. You feel that when you wear the shirt you cannot let the people down. If you are tired, you cannot feel tired. You give an extra 10 per cent because you feel that the fans are right behind you and even when you don't play well or win, the fans are always behind you and that's what makes it so special." 

Mat Beard ‏@Mat_Beard94
@LFC best defender in the world today? #askhenchoz

"It's difficult to say. I think [Gerard] Pique didn't have the greatest season at Barcelona but he has to be up there. In England, there is [Vincent] Kompany. He had a great season but is he the best in the world? I'm not sure. He's up there though. Obviously John Terry is still a good defender but he's not the Terry of old. Rio [Ferdinand]? Not any more for me. Skrtel had a great season but I cannot really name one." 

Andreas Skain ‏@andreasskain
@LFC Messi or Ronaldo? #askhenchoz

"Messi. Definitely. Why? Because he plays in this very different style to anyone else and for me, he is more of a team player than Ronaldo. I simply prefer Messi." 

Ibun Ayu ‏@ibunAyu
@LFC #askhenchoz what's your favorite national team in Euro2012? Why?

"I hope England will do well, so that's the team I am going to support. For the rest, I like to see teams who play good football like Spain. I'm thinking the Dutch team will do well and lately the Germans have played better football with a group of younger players. They really do play attractive football. So like every fan out there, I like teams who play good football."

Were you surprised with Hodgson for England?

"I was surprised but he was liked when he was Switzerland manager. When Hodgson became the manager we had instant success."

Vincentius Aji J ‏@aji411
@LFC #askhenchoz who do u think was liverpool's best player in 2011-2012 season? #ynwa

"Skrtel. Luis Suarez is definitely a top striker though. He runs everywhere - so much so that sometimes I think he runs a little too much. He's still young and he still has the potential to improve. That's why I would like to see him play under someone like Martinez because he is not the finished product. He's got tremendous quality and he's showed it already but there is still something missing in his game for me. He could be a No.10 player with a finisher ahead of him if he's managed by someone very intelligent tactically."

Aizat Haris ‏@aizatbinharis
@LFC Who was the toughest #LFC striker you faced in the training when you were at the club? #askhenchoz

"Robbie [Fowler]. Definitely. Robbie's finishing is unbelievable. Even now, when you play 5-a-side, every time he touches the ball he's near the goal and he scores. He was very influential in the dressing room; he's a Liverpool lad with a great sense of humour and was very important for the club. He was loved. He is loved over here as well. At Liverpool he was No.1 by far and everybody was miles behind him."

Barry Fairbairn ‏@bazza31
Favourite Merseyside pub? #askhenchoz #LFC

"I didn't spend too much time in the pub so I could not say!"

Michael Jones ‏@M_Jones_82
@LFC are you still in touch with any of your old treble year team mates? #askhenchoz

"I'm in touch with Vladimir Smicer and I see Robbie when I come out here. But out of the rest I don't see too many of them. I'm still friends with Vladi; we used to share a room. He's somebody I really like and he's a really good person."

PaulKMorgan ‏@PaulKMorgan
#askhenchoz what do you think of the current crop of #lfc academy players, is the future looking bright? any possible stars you're aware of?

"I watch LFC TV and see the U18s and Reserve players and they all look like they're working hard. However, Liverpool need to develop their Academy to create even more home-grown players and that's why someone like Martinez would be good for Liverpool because the Academy needs to start from the youngest possible age and play exactly the same system with the same philosophy as the first team. 

"First of all you need to pick the right players through scouting; you need players with something special and then you need to work with them and mould them into the style of play that you want to promote at the club. The best example, again, is Barcelona. And for them it's success didn't come overnight. You watch Barcelona Under-8s play and you see the same philosophy and the same style of play as in the first team. You can recognise that while they aren't wearing the same shirts, they have the Barcelona style. They are eight or nine years old but they try to replicate the first team. Obviously they don't always achieve it but they try to. And that's why, when they are 18 and they go into the Barcelona B side, they can play in the first team and they don't look out of place at all

"I think Martinez has the right philosophy to put something like that in place and he's still young enough to want to do it. You need your first team manager to put that in place. If he's there for 10 years, he will care more about the progress of an eight-year-old because he will be there to see the progression. If you appoint a manager who has a big reputation but who is already in his 60s, someone like [Fabio] Capello, that person hasn't got 15 years left as a manager. So why is he coming? He's coming for instant success. He's buying players for instant success and that's about it. He knows he will never see an Academy player rise through the ranks."

Muhammad Usama ‏@LFC_Usama95
@lfc #askhenchoz as a defender , what is the basic attribute you should have to be solid? #iamadefender n #youaremyhero

"There are two things a defender needs these days; speed and aggression. These days you need to be quick. Or it certainly helps a lot. Reading the game is still very important but when a player reaches 32 and he has the experience and he can even read the game better then when he was 22, if his legs are gone, they are gone. So I would say speed. You need to win your challenges as well and so if you want to do that, you need to be very aggressive. They are the two main attributes: speed and aggression."

NEERAJ NAMBIAR ‏@neerajrn
@LFC according to you, the best player in #LFC history?#askhenchoz

"I'm going to say Steven Gerrard. I haven't seen enough of Kenny Dalglish and Gerrard is more my generation. It's always difficult to compare players. For example, people are always asking: Is Pele better than Messi? Or is Maradona better? But I will say Gerrard in terms of Liverpool because I have played with him and overall I would say he's been the best. Dalglish played in title-winning teams but Gerrard hasn't had that, so I think he's had a bigger influence on his team-mates.

"He is one of these players who has a tremendous work rate and who can make the difference and turn the game all by himself. You know that when you are struggling at 0-0 or you are 1-0 down; as long as he's on the pitch you have got a chance. Give him the ball and he's able to do something special and change the game."

Jonny Clyde ‏@jonnyclyde
@LFC #askhenchoz Do you still have the goatee??

[Laughs] "Yes."