Thierry Henry has officially joined the MLS and the former Barca man is expected to begin playing for the New York Red Bulls later this month in a friendly match against EPL top four squad Tottenham Hotspurs on July 22nd.
And perhaps it is a fitting first match for Henry with his new team in his new country considering it was over across the pond in the EPL that Thierry made a name for himself as an elite player with the Arsenal Gunners. The Frenchman was one of the most dominant players in the league from 1999 to 2007 scoring a club record 226 goals and Henry wasn’t too shabby for Barcelona in the last few seasons either.
But the man did go from a treble winning starter to a bench warmer rather quickly for his Barcelona side, but considering the addition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan it was a tough scenario for the aging star to deal with. Henry only started in 15 matches last year in La Liga and the Frenchman was also regularly overlooked this recent World Cup during France’s dismal self-imploding performance.
In other words it is safe to say that the Frenchman has lost a step or two and that his best Gillete Era years are behind him.
But is the signing of Henry to the MLS potentially a bigger deal then even when Sir Goldenballs joined the league?
I can’t say it is bigger, but it certainly might end up being better. Henry is thirty two years old and could potentially have five or six solid seasons left in him if he remains with the New York Red Bulls. Sure the option of retiring is probably down the near road, but one bit of news that was reported regarding the acquisition was the fact that Henry signed for multiple years.
Of course Beckham did the same thing with the mutiple year contract and that fact probably has hurt his experience in the MLS because it became apparent over the years that he probably regretted making the long term deal and wished he could play overseas full time. Henry could possibly feel the same way and try to make loan deals abroad, but I think he knows the negative atmosphere that could bring to his career, so hopefully he sticks it out in New York and doesn’t consider too many loans to top European teams.
But any way you look at the deal Thierry (TYAIR-ree) Henry (ahn-REE) has become Terry (TAIR-ree) Henry (HEN-ree) to us Yanks and our sports radio stations. The only question left now is……
Where’s Raul?
photo credit: themikelee
