Thierry Henry

[LooneyToonArmy]

anyone else remember him playing against us in the UEFA Cup quarter final in 96/97?

 

He had the dreadlocks back then and was a left winger.....tormented Watson over both legs. I remember saying at that time we should`ve signed him!

 

They had a canny team back then I seem to recall - Barthez, Dumas (was good then!),Djetou Legwinski, Sonny Anderson, Emmanuel Petit, Benarbia, Prso,Trezeguet etc

 

We were playing Rob Lee up front on his own in the 2nd leg at their place

[Tooj]

He absolutely raped us iirc.

[KaKa]

Not too hot on this idea at all.

 

Doesn't he have a serious back issue that limits the number of games he can play as well? Along with the already mentioned attitude and poor leadership skills, it would be a big risk.

 

There are so many promising young players out there and I would love to see us really try and identify some top young strikers and pursue one of them instead.

 

However, if Keegan decides to go for Henry, I'm sure he would make it work.

 

If Keegan wants a striker with prem experience who is still young and has some great attributes that I have no doubt Keegan could get the most out of, then Djibril Cisse could be worth a punt. He would only cost about £5 - £7million and his wages would be so much less. He seems to be coming on of late at Marseille.

 

 

[Decky]

No way, would be awful. He can only play 1 game a week as it is, knowing our luck he will come here and be fucked for about 6 months. Why not spend big on an up and coming striker rather than some crock who is playing beyond his best days?

[dustynrg]

A player who can only be in decline. Over 30 means his best days are behind him. Only way I'd bring him was if it was at a real knockdown price as he'll have zero resale value in 3/4 seasons.

 

Much rather go for the Bentley.

 

The Bentley who says this about us?

 

"Anything different and the team stops winning. I've seen it happen. You look at the clubs that are struggling in the Premier League and it's always for those same reasons, players have to be controlled, if they're not it's a disaster, look at Newcastle.'

 

[Guest shaun11177]

Absolutely certain that if we put a 10m bid in for Henry-Barca would accept it but whether Henry would come to a club aiming for 5th to 8th next season at his age, well i would very much doubt it.

[Mowen]

Can't understand why the idea of bidding for Deco seems to be coming in for almost universal praise whereas this idea is being treated with trepidation at best. I'd love Henry here, would be a hell of a statement.

[McCormick]

Wait one gosh-darn minute here, WE are saying no to HIM? Only a year and a half ago he was widely considered the best striker in the world, questionable ego perhaps, but we shouldn't be scoffing at a player of his immense talent.

 

All pointless really though seeing as its never going to happen.

[NG32]

Absolutely certain that if we put a 10m bid in for Henry-Barca would accept it but whether Henry would come to a club aiming for 5th to 8th next season at his age, well i would very much doubt it.

 

One last swan song infront of a decent crowd.  English football suits his game better, where better to play than a fired up SJP with the team playing attacking attrative football.

[Guest marky555]

Wouldn't want him. Obviously been an amazing player but seems to have spat his dummy out a bit at Barca and I think the positivity and good morale we have in the squad might be diluted with the arrival of Henry.

 

Although he was mint at Arsenal, Fabregas and a few others have came out saying how without him they feel more confident as they used to try and pass the ball to him everytime, even when he wasn't in the greatest of positions due to his presence on the pitch.

[Cronky]

His intensity would also be a real positive for us I feel. You can never underestimate the impact of a player who sets such high expectations for himself and the team. At least he'll be a good presence and give a real example to the players (especially the younger ones) about the attitude you need to succeed at the highest level.

 

We also haven't had a real leader on the pitch since Shearer retired and Henry might revel in this role here.

 

However highly you might rate Henry's footballing skills, he's not a team player and he's not a leader. That's not part of the package that he'd offer.

[James]

I think he'd still contribute more to the team than Martins when he plays, and I reckon that Martins could learn a lot understudying Henry, and would still get enough games when Henry gets injured.

 

For me, I think we still need to buy the cake mixture, bake it, put the icing on the cake, and if we still have the resources, Henry would make a sumptious cherry.

[Guest samjack]

I think he would be a great signing, even if it was for a relatively short term (2 seasons maybe), he would definately want to prove his worth back in the premiership as i reckon he's felt a bit humbled in the spanish league, not to mention the fact that it might spark a bit of a ' revolution ' for signings.......bring it on  

[madras]

depends on the fee/terms

[Mowen]

I can't understand why Henry wouldn't be seen as a team player, he used to get a huge number of assists for the likes of Bergkamp, Kanu, Ljungberg and even more so Pires.

[Taylor Swift]

His intensity would also be a real positive for us I feel. You can never underestimate the impact of a player who sets such high expectations for himself and the team. At least he'll be a good presence and give a real example to the players (especially the younger ones) about the attitude you need to succeed at the highest level.

 

We also haven't had a real leader on the pitch since Shearer retired and Henry might revel in this role here.

 

However highly you might rate Henry's footballing skills, he's not a team player and he's not a leader. That's not part of the package that he'd offer.

 

The leadership thing is questionable, I agree, but like I've said, I've seen him plenty of times this season playing like someone who knows that he's not the main man anymore and thus is quite deferential to younger/better players. But anyway, even if there's doubts about that, there's absolutely no doubt he's a team player. He had one of the most all-round games you could find in the Premiership, he topped the goals and assists charts so many times so really there's no basis to your claim at all.

[Guest Edd]

Three wins against mediocre opposition really has gone to some peoples heads.

[James]

I think Arsenal became one dimensional in Henry's last season because he was the only 'name' in the team and team mates looked in his direction too much. Same happenned with Owen at Liverpool, and England too before Rooney came along.

 

I don't think we'd be quite as one dimensional with Henry in our squad.

[Taylor Swift]

Honestly, players like Deco and Henry, even if they only have a few years left, would offer us so much on the pitch let alone what they'd offer to the younger players and there's also what they'd offer in terms of revenue as well.

 

Their skills have declined but Henry hasn't lost his ability to finish and neither has Deco lost his ability to pass the ball. They are still a cut above the rest and would easily still play for the top 4 (they're actually playing for one of the best teams in Europe but somehow they're not good enough for us?), and eventually, these are the players we need to have in our team so if the offer presents itself now, why not?

 

Of course the only thing stopping this is fees/wages but we will eventually have to pay big wages and huge transfer fees if we want world-class players and these two (Deco and Henry) would be a brilliant start.

[James]

Henry is also a better left winger than anyone in our squad if we wanted to stick with our current trio up front.

[Taylor Swift]

Three wins against mediocre opposition really has gone to some peoples heads.

 

It's got nothing to do with wins. The summer's nearly begun, why not plan ahead?

 

It's actually got everything to do with the fact that these players can be signed if we're ambitious enough and for many people to say 'no thanks' is quite stupid. Just because Man Utd won the title with unproven kids 15 years ago doesn't mean it's going to happen again any time soon. We're going to need classy players if we want to compete with the best, but classy players on the way up aren't going to sign for us, are they (and Bentley's not in this class before anyone says so)? These kind of players are the kind that we can sign and should make every effort to do so.

[Taylor Swift]

Btw, just to put things in perspective, Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to sign Zizou when he was 29.

 

Deco is 30. Henry is 30.

[Guest Edd]

Three wins against mediocre opposition really has gone to some peoples heads.

 

It's got nothing to do with wins. The summer's nearly begun, why not plan ahead?

 

It's actually got everything to do with the fact that these players can be signed if we're ambitious enough and for many people to say 'no thanks' is quite stupid. Just because Man Utd won the title with unproven kids 15 years ago doesn't mean it's going to happen again any time soon. We're going to need classy players if we want to compete with the best, but classy players on the way up aren't going to sign for us, are they (and Bentley's not in this class before anyone says so)? These kind of players, players with quite a lot to offer imo, are the kind that we can sign and should make every effort to do so.

My comment was aimed at those people that suddenly seem to think we can do better than Henry.

[Taylor Swift]

Three wins against mediocre opposition really has gone to some peoples heads.

 

It's got nothing to do with wins. The summer's nearly begun, why not plan ahead?

 

It's actually got everything to do with the fact that these players can be signed if we're ambitious enough and for many people to say 'no thanks' is quite stupid. Just because Man Utd won the title with unproven kids 15 years ago doesn't mean it's going to happen again any time soon. We're going to need classy players if we want to compete with the best, but classy players on the way up aren't going to sign for us, are they (and Bentley's not in this class before anyone says so)? These kind of players, players with quite a lot to offer imo, are the kind that we can sign and should make every effort to do so.

My comment was aimed at those people that suddenly seem to think we can do better than Henry.

 

Apologies.

[Tooj]

Btw, just to put things in perspective, Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to sign Zizou when he was 29.

 

Deco is 30. Henry is 30.

 

Zidane was different to Henry though, especially in the fact he was never a player who relied on his physical attributes. Whereas at the age Henry is at now, his pace etc could decline rapidly. Which is the worry I have. Not saying he isn't a step up from everything we have, which we know he is. Plus it's not as if we stand a chance anyways.

 

Deco I'd take easily.