Thierry Henry: The Gunner Galactico
Here is a blog from an avid Arsenal fan. This is too long for a blog, I know. But if you are a true football fan, I hope you will enjoy this. :)
Thierry Henry arrived from Juventus, a Serie-A (Italian top-tier league) team in the year 1999 for £11 million. The then manager Arsene Wenger had already known of his incredible talent when he was managing Monaco (a top tier french club) where he assigned Henry as a Left Winger due to his incredible pace and ball control.
He was brought to the club as a replacement for the french forward Nikolas Anelka, who had left the club for Real Madrid. It was plausible that Henry had a slow start at Highbury given that he was still a young prospect whose initial position was at the wings. He had to adapt to the ruthlessness of English football. The fans were pretty upset with Anelka’s departure as he was still a very young talent and they wanted him to play in the famous red and white kit. He had finished the previous season as Arsenal’s top goal scorer with 17 goals, one goal shy from winning the Golden Boot. With Anelka gone, Henry had to fill in some big shoes hereby putting him and Wenger’s decision under a lot of speculation. Henry failed to score in his first 8 league games that led to the pundits and the fans question Wenger’s judgement but Le Proffeseur was nothing but determined to carve the young Frenchman into the gem he was destined to be. Henry soon silenced his critics as he finished the 1999/2000 campaign registering 8 assists and 17 goals in the PL (26 goals in all competition).
Henry went on to impress the fans with his positive and commanding attitude on the pitch while openly displaying his love for the club. But with still a lot to learn, in the 2000/01 season he couldn’t deliver upto his full potential as the club finished 2nd, 10 points behind the winners Manchester United. Henry’s 17 goals and 9 assists weren’t enough of a contribution for the Gunners. Although Arsenal did reach the FA Cup finals against Liverpool but they eventually lost 2–1. The failures endured in the campaign left him frustrated and the following season he was ready for a comeback no one saw coming.
The 2001–02 campaign was the one where Wenger and his Gunners finally laid their hands on the Premier League title finishing at the top, 7 points ahead of Liverpool. They also won the FA Cup against their London rivals Chelsea by 2–0 therefore clenching a double. Henry alongside his fellow frenchman Robert Pires and “the Iceman” Dennis Bergkamp dominated the league with Henry bagging 24 goals (32 in all competitions) to win the Golden Boot and Pires & Bergkamp with a combined 27 assists. By now, Henry would sync perfectly with his fellow teammates and their counter-attacking form of play was widely appreciated by the fans and the pundits. A glimpse of their style of playing would even remind one of Total Football, with captain Patrick Viera (being a defensive midfielder) was also seen bagging goals for the club.
“On his day he was absolutely scintillating, a supreme athlete and a magnificent footballer. What amazed me was that he never seemed to get a sweat on. He could run 100 meters past five players and he wouldn’t even be breathing heavily.”— Paul Scholes (Man United player)
The Gunners couldn’t retain the league title in the following campaign but Henry by now had proved just how dangerous he was on the pitch. He bagged 32 goals across all competitions and had provided 23 assists. Henry was the only player in the league’s history to have scored and assisted 20+ goals in a single season. Arsenal retained the FA Cup where Henry was the MOTM. Henry’s status was now that of a prolific center forward who had an unquenchable thirst for netting the ball every opportunity he got. Not only did he contribute with his goals but he also used to set up goals for his fellow players. With a deadly combination of speed, strength, ball control and accuracy, he was arguably one of the most feared players by now.
“Thierry Henry. I literally had sleepless nights. For me when I first came into the Chelsea team he was the best. Arsenal were the best club in the Premier League, if not the world at the time.” — John Terry (Chelsea captain)
The 2003/04 campaign will most definitely be the best campaign Arsenal had ever played. Matter of fact, no other team in the history of the Premier League had played the way Arsenal did. It all started when Arsenal won their first four games of the season and Arsene Wenger, in a post match interview, said that his side might probably finish the campaign without losing. And Henry, with the help of Pires, Bergkamp and Freddie Ljungberg were more than determined to reclaim the title from their rivals Manchester United. They dominated every single match they played to make sure they grab all three points. That season also marked the debut of the German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who was signed from Borussia Dortmund who turned out to be one of the key elements in Arsenal’s defense. With the likes of Lehmann, Keown, Toure and Cole in the defense; with the brazillian Gilberto Silva and captain Viera in the middle and with a reinforced forward comprising of Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, and latest signing Jose Antonio Reyes, Arsenal’s triumph was nothing but inevitable.
April 25th, 2004: the North London Derby every Arsenal fan would remember.
Personally one of my favourite moments. On this day, Arsenal were going to face their arch rivals Tottenham Hotspurs in an away match at the White Hart Lane (Tottenham’s home stadium) and they needed just 1 point to be declared the champions having won 24 games, drawn 9 and lost none with 5 games to spare. Tension rose amongst the fans on both sides as Arsenal were the favourites to win this fixture having beaten them in the previous fixture 2–1. The problem was that IF Arsenal were to win the game, they would mathematically be declared the Champions at the enemy’s territory and that would create a certain unrest amongst the home and away fans. Arsenal’s squad was told not to celebrate after the match would end assuming they would not lose this fixture and the players agreed to it. Arsenal were leading 2–0 at the half time with Henry providing the assists. But Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Keane managed to bag 2 goals and saved a rather humiliating loss. Nonetheless, Arsenal were crowned the Champions but Henry took the celebrations of the Spurs players a little too personally and so the Gunners began their celebrations rubbing salt on the wounds of the Spurs fans who went on to finish 14th that season. Arsenal earned the nickname “The Invincibles” for their unbeaten season and they continued their run upto 49 games until they were finally beaten by rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford the following season.
Arsenal finally lifted the trophy on June 30th, 2004 with a record of 26 wins, 12 draws and no losses in a 38-game season. Arsenal did exactly what Le Proffeseur predicted. No team in the 115 year history of the Premier League had ever achieved this feat. Thierry Henry’s tally included a whopping 39 goals across all competitions which led him to win the European Golden Boot.
Thierry Henry, the Gunner Galactico.
This is a not so sweet ending of a blog on such a decorated player. After their unbeaten run ended, Arsenal would soon begin to struggle with other clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool providing a tough competition. Manchester United have always been in the title race but Arsenal began to lose their edge. In the 05/06 campaign, Patrick Viera had left the club making Henry the new Captain. Arsenal would prove to be a dominating force in the UEFA Champions League as they continued to remain unbeaten in the group stages of the cup competition. Arsenal faced Real Madrid in the Round of 16 knockout stage. The first leg was an away game at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. By this time, no English club had beaten the Spanish giants on their home turf. Real Madrid were the favourites as no one expected Arsenal to do what other English clubs couldn’t. But on the 47th minute of the match a solo goal from Henry would see The Gunners winning the fixture and hereby creating another historical moment for the club. And amidst all this, commentator Peter Drury said the following (watch the video!):
Arsenal were to face Barcelona in the finals of the Champions League. This was the first time Arsenal had reached the finals of this competition. This was also the first UCL final for Wenger and Henry. The tension was high as ever as Barcelona’s squad comprised of the likes of legends like Ronaldinho, Carlos Puyol, Xavi Hernandez and Andreas Iniesta. They too were unbeaten throughout the group stages but with a greater goal difference.
The match began and the players where seen mostly in the midfield, evenly matched. All was going great for Arsenal when on the 18th minute, a foul on Samuel Eto’o resulted in goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to be sent off. Wenger had to substitute Pires out to bring in a goalkeeper therefore weakening the attack. Before half time Sol Campbell managed to break the deadlock for Arsenal and all they had to do was maintain the lead. But unfortunately, they ended up conceding 2 goals in the span of just 5 minutes, 10 minutes before the full time whistle. Barcelona won the most prestigious title a European club could win in a season. And that marked the beginning of the end of Henry’s tenure in Arsenal. Following the match, Dennis Bergkamp announced his retirement.
The forthcoming season, Arsenal had unraveled their new stadium The Emirates stadium, welcoming twice the capacity of their previous stadium, The Highbury which was now put under a new housing development project. With the new stadium, the fans where as ecstatic as ever with a new ray of hope for the club to bounce back to their top form; but that couldn’t come to pass. Henry was tainted with a series of injuries which forced him to spend most of the season on the bench having scored just 10 goals in 17 appearances. By the end of the season, Pires, Campbell and Ljungberg had left the club. There were a lot of speculations surrounding Henry’s exit as well, but the Frenchman signed a new 4-year contract with the club, keeping the hopes of the fans that he would ultimately stay. But in an unexpected turn of events, Henry signed for Barcelona in the summer transfer market of 2007. He cited that the uncertainty of Wenger’s and David Dein’s (the then co-owner and vice chairman of Arsenal FC) future at Arsenal led him to make this decision in his career.
“Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on.” — Henry, on why he left the club
By the time Henry’s career ended at Arsenal, he had achieved the accolade of the top goal scorer in the club’s history with 226 goals across all competitions. He went on to achieve success in Barcelona but his tenure there wasn’t as great as anticipated.
“If I were to say that Henry was happy, I would be called a liar.
“It is complicated because he is not playing in his best position. He is always on the left or on the right. I know him and I know he is not happy.
“He was angry because he is not used to being substituted. That was something that never happened to him at Arsenal.” — Robert Pires
Even though he had won the Champions League with the Catalans, couple of spanish league titles and few more titles, he was not utilised as well as he was at Arsenal. And so in 2010, Henry signed for the Major League Soccer (USA league) giants, New York Red Bulls.
The King returns…
Henry was given the name “King Henry” by the fans because of his achievements and accolades as an Arsenal player. And so in January 2012, when the MLS had its winter break (2011/12 campaign), Henry signed a short term loan deal where he would be seen once again playing in the Emirates, in the classic red and white kit. Henry came in as a late substitute in an FA Cup round fixture to score the only goal of the match, helping his team yet again to qualify onto the next round. In his loan spell, he scored 2 goals in total, bringing his total tally of goals for Arsenal to 228; a record which is still intact.
(Yes, I added 2 clips of his return because words cannot reciprocate that emotion, all the fans, myself included, felt when we saw him play for us again. Give them a watch, you will feel that energy :) )
Thierry Henry retired from football as a player in December 2014. He then went on to pursue his coaching career.
Henry had achieved nearly every accolade a player can earn for himself. Multiple Golden boots, multiple PFA Player Of The Year awards, UEFA Team Of The Year, and so on. He achieved almost all the titles with every team he had played for and had also won the World Cup for his country.
Truly the most prolific, most lethal, most decorated, most phenomenal atheletes of all time. A true captain and a true Gunner. King Henry, the Gunner Galactico.
“We were blessed in this country to see Thierry playing at his peak, potentially one of the greatest players in the world” — Gary Neville
