What about Thierry?

What about Thierry?

What about Thierry?

imageBy Dominic Vieira, writing from Lancaster, England

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Barclays Premier League, the manager’s voted for their “Team of the Decade”. It was no surprise to see the selection dominated by 6 Manchester United players with the others representing Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle. Moments later the debate sparked on the world of twitter, why was only one Arsenal player from the 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ team chosen? There is no concrete answer to the question, but Arsenal fans will be delighted with the inclusion of Ashley Cole, one of the world’s most accomplished left-backs. Cesc Fabregas and Dennis Bergkamp both picked up votes, but where is Thierry Henry in the team?

Firstly and foremost, take a look at the elected team:

Van der Sar (Man.Utd); G. Neville (Man.Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Vidic (Man.Utd), A. Cole (Arsenal/Chelsea); Ronaldo (Man.Utd), Gerrard (Liverpool), Scholes (Man.Utd), Giggs (Man.Utd); Shearer (Newcastle), Drogba (Chelsea)

There was a general agreement with voting for the goalkeeper, defenders and wingers which is not a shock as they have been icons and consistent stars throughout the past decade in England. Naturally, we all possess our own individual opinion and it’s always easier to disagree, but the selection is fairly accurate from my view. The central midfield position will always be open for discussion as several players could easily have been elected.

The two strikers were joint favourites as they both collected 23% of the votes. Didier Drogba was an irreplaceable element for Chelsea under Mourinho and Ancelotti. Whereas Alan Shearer, who retired in 2006 is the Premier League’s all time top scorer with 260 goals and struck a record 11 hat-tricks. Wayne Rooney recently lifted his 4th Premier League title in 5 years for the Red Devils and finished 3rd in the vote with 20%. Finally, Arsenal’s Thierry Henry accumulated 17% and the legendary Dennis Bergkamp 10%.

Thierry Henry is an Arsenal legend, an undying symbol who was the heart and soul of the team which won the Premier League title in 2002 and 2004. It’s still alarming not to see his name listed in this 'dream team’. A striker’s main role is to score goals which is what Henry constantly achieved and delivered. Over the past decade he was top scorer on 4 occasions where he scored at least 32 goals, he won the Golden Boot for 3 consecutive seasons. In that space of time Drogba lifted it twice and Shearer never received it. The former England striker failed to emulate his lethal scoring form at Newcastle like he did at Blackburn.

Thierry Henry’s outstanding work does not simply revolve around individual awards and scoring a high abundance of goals. Over the past decade he featured in 223 Premier League matches for Arsenal completing 68 assists which is high for a striker who often played alone up front. Furthermore, he terminated the 02/03 season with a record 23 assists, a high figure which the likes of Giggs, Nani, Fabregas, Gerrard or Lampard have yet to smash.

Arsenal’s number 14 was an inspiration through his unique football where he was complete: vision, flair, touch, intelligence, instinct and skill. He had it all. It was no surprise to see him collecting several FWA or PFA awards and featuring in the 'Team of the Year’ for 6 successive seasons. He was a consistent performer, a natural, an Arsenal legend pioneered by a technically skilled team and mastered under an idealistic manager, Mr. Wenger. Henry rightfully earned his place in English football, whether he featured in this team or not won’t change that. But he really should have though.

Remember Thierry Henry’s glory days in an Arsenal shirt?