Today is Thierry Henry day for Arsenal fans.
Yes, it was on August 3, 1999 that the forward arrived in North London and stayed for eight years, becoming a Gunners legend and, for many, the best player the Premier League has ever seen.
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Henry is Arsenal’s record scorer and is considered by many to be the best player to grace the Premier League.
Seven years have passed since Titi retired, and 11 since she left Barcelona and began to relax her career in New York. Has it really been that long?
While some of us might have forgotten how good he was, for Arsenal fans, of course, Henry’s brilliance will forever be etched in their memories.
I could have won more cutlery for Barça, but when you think of Henry, you think of Arsenal.
And if you’ve perhaps forgotten how good he was, you’ve probably forgotten that initially, Gooners wasn’t even convinced of his talent.
When Arsene Wenger signed a low-confidence Henry worth £ 11 million from Juventus in 1999, it was not well received. It was seen as hugely overrated.
Well, he soon proved them wrong and left the club eight seasons later as their all-time top scorer, with 228 goals in 375 games, and arguably the club’s greatest legend.
Henry ended his Arsenal career with two Premier League winners’ medals, as well as a host of individual awards, including four Golden Boots.
But he was not just a scorer. He was a deadly finisher, yes, but he could do everything else. He could make a pass, he could make a pass, he could ignore defenders, he could run really, really fast, just ask Jamie Carragher, all while keeping the ball like it’s glued to his boots.
He wasn’t that spectacular after signing for Barcelona, but he scored 49 goals and 27 assists in 121 games and won seven titles, including a brilliant European league, cup and treble in 2008/09.
Henry often faced criticism for not reaching the same heights for his country as in his club career, but, come on, he lifted the World Cup, the European Championship and also remains France’s top scorer with 51 goals. in 124 games.
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Henry’s legendary status at Arsenal was cemented, as if there were any doubt, with his dramatic goal against Leeds in the FA Cup in his second spell at the club. The club even had to change its statue outside the Emirates to update its goal tally, following its return on loan from the New York Red Bulls.
He also had the Va Va Voom off the field (the striker was the cover star of Pro Evolution Soccer when it was actually a better and more popular game than FIFA), was it because he had Henry up front? We would like to think so.
He was ranked No. 1 on Arsenal’s official ’50 best players’ list, and was described on their website as’ the kid on the playground who was better than everyone else with the ball at his feet ‘.
And we couldn’t have said it better. It was simply true. In its pomp, there was no equal in the whole of the Premier League.
There was ego, arrogance in the way he played, but not in a bad way. He earned it, it was that good. It was almost unfair.
But what have his friends, foes, coaches and distant fans said about the legend?
And let’s be clear, it’s about Henry as a player, not as a coach. Let’s not go there …
Former manager Arsene Wenger:
“Thierry Henry was able to take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score.
“He is a player who had everything you dream of as a coach.
“What makes it special? He has a mixture of physical talent and technical ability, as well as remarkable intelligence and above all a great passion for the game.
“And what people also forget for many top-level athletes is that he was dedicated to his work, with a very serious life. He is simply a professional model who won everything he can in our world.
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Arsene Wenger was Henry’s coach at Arsenal for eight years, Arsenal legend Alan Smith:
“Henry is the best player I have seen practice his trade in this country. Not just the best striker, but the best player, because I saw him do things that no one else has done.
“He reduced first-class opponents to defenseless also rans. He completely embarrassed seasoned pros with his outrageous pace, strength, skill, and confidence.
“He can do things that Ronaldo cannot. When he’s in the mood, no one stops him. He raised the forward’s art to a level never seen before or since. “
Pavel Nedved:
After winning the Ballon d’Or in 2003, the Juventus legend admitted his surprise that Henry finished second in the vote. Says it all.
“For me, Thierry Henry is the best striker in the world right now.
“I’m very happy. I didn’t think I would win over Thierry Henry, Paolo Maldini or Zinedine Zidane and if I had voted I would have voted for Thierry and the other players on the podium.
“I am very happy for myself, my wife, my children and my country, but I don’t know how I beat Thierry Henry or Zinedine Zidane.”
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Nedved admitted that he had no idea how he won the Ballon d’Or against Thierry Henry or Zinedine Zidane in 2003.
That result has been called one of the biggest robberies in soccer history.
That year, Henry scored 32 goals and conjured 28 assists in 55 games in all competitions, including 20 in the Premier League, which remains a record for assists in a season.
Meanwhile, Nedved had nine goals and two assists in 29 Serie A games and was named European Footballer of the Year. That?
After the ceremony in France, Wenger said: “Thierry Henry will go a long way and everything will depend on him. He is a phenomenal player.
How right he was!
Chelsea exdelantero Gianluca Vialli:
The only way to stop Thierry Henry? With a gun!”
Zinedine Zidane:
“Ronaldinho is a special player, but Thierry Henry is probably technically the most talented footballer who has ever played this beautiful sport.”
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They were close friends throughout their careers and where the heroes of a team from France that won the World Cup and the European Championship Lionel Messi:
The Barcelona icon, arguably the greatest player of all time, said he was afraid to look Henry in the face when he arrived at the Camp Nou. Let that sink in.
“The first day he entered the dressing room I did not dare to look him in the face,” Messi told L’Equipe.
“He knew everything he had done in England. I had an image made of him and suddenly we were on the same team.
“What I feel for Titi can be a form of admiration.
“I loved Henry. The ease of finishing an action, how it takes the path to the goal and ends the play.
“It gives the impression that it is natural. His race, his dribble, the last gesture. It is fluid, proportionate.
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Henry and Messi were teammates at Barcelona and the latter had great respect and admiration for the French Ray Parlor, former Arsenal teammate, in statements to talkSPORT:
“In his first five or six games, he couldn’t hit a barn door. He just couldn’t finish. I was like, ‘Oh no, we’re not going to win the league, we don’t have a chance!’
“But what a player he turned out to be: he could win a game on his own.
“The game that has always stuck with me was during the undefeated season. We were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United and then we lost to Chelsea in the Champions League, and we had Liverpool in the league at the weekend.
“At halftime we were 2-1 down, so it could have been a horrible week, but in the second half Henry was absolutely unplayable. That’s the game where Didi Hamann dribbled, Jamie Carragher fell and just slid the ball into the corner. He finished with a hat-trick and we won 4-2!
“I was very lucky to play with some brilliant finalists and I thought no one could beat Ian Wright’s goalscoring record, but Thierry beat him by 50 goals!
“What a player!”
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Henry was one of the inaugural members of the Premier League Hall of Fame and for good reason Jamie Carragher in THAT famous goal against Liverpool:
“When he sped up and ran past you, it was like trying to chase someone on a motorcycle.
“Sometimes as a defense against some of the best players we had at the time, Alan Shearer, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, there’s not much you can do in certain situations because they were so good. But in his prime, Henry just ran past you and there wasn’t much he could do.
“When Arsenal were ‘The Invincibles’, Henry rivaled Ronaldinho as the best in the world. A great scorer, not to mention a great goal scorer.
“He is the best player I have seen in the Premier League. His game had no weaknesses.
Ronaldinho was a big fan:
“Henry is a beautiful player and has a complete technique, I love to see him. I respect him a lot as a man and as a footballer. It reminds me of myself.
And there is no greater compliment.
Patrick Vieira:
“Thierry is the best striker in the world, by far. Thierry doesn’t just score goals, even when he’s not having a good day, he can make an important pass. He is a strong character. If things go wrong, he recovers immediately. Its effect on the club is very great ”.
Paul Scholes:
“In his day he was absolutely stunning, a supreme athlete and a magnificent footballer. What surprised me was that he never seemed to sweat. He could run 100 meters beyond five players and he wasn’t even breathing heavily.
Jamie Redknapp:
“Henry was so fast, so graceful. It was almost as if he could get through a puddle without splashing. It was that good, it was effortless during the game.
“The first time I played him, he used to drift to the left side of the field, he used to cut, pick up the ball, pass two and just round it to the corner.
“Boy, how do you do that? He was a good player ”.
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Henry is one of the best players in the Premier League: he scored at least 24 goals in six consecutive seasons and won a record four Golden Boots. And finally, Martin Keown with a quote that almost brings tears to the eyes …
“I remember telling him when he scored his first goal: ‘I’ll be able to tell my kids that I played with you,’ and I meant it.
“He said he was crazy afterwards, but he had seen a special player and I made sure he knew about it.”
Wonderful.
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