Thierry Henry – The Consummate Modern Footballer

Thierry Henry has enjoyed an ilustrious and successful career as a footballer. Highlighted with magical goals at Arsenal F.C., Thierry Henry exemplifies what the modern football professional should strive to achieve.

Henry scores goals with a frequency and tenacity that few possess. Be it graceful lobs, powerful cannons, hefty volleys, or perfectly aimed rollers, all of his goals are a joy to watch. The one that stands out most in my mind is the goal against Manchester in 2000 at Highbury, where he flicked an oncoming pass up in the air with his back to the goal, turned, and lobbed a beautiful dipping and curving ball into the back of the net. It’s these types of goals, coupled with his deadly accuracy, that make him a player that the world wants to watch.

Aside from the goals, Henry exhibits a style of play and swagger that is unmatched. With deft flicks on the ball and quick turns past opponents, he is both graceful and stunning with his carefully practiced technique. He’ll pass the ball to himself without hesitation, slow play for the offense to catch up, and take on three or more defenders at once. Although his grace and skill have come under fire again, confidence remains high that he will once again find ways to impress.

Off the pitch, Thierry enjoys a calm and relaxing lifestyle that most footballers seem to avoid. He is rarely in the tabloids with nasty rumors and he is not the type to be involved in a pub fight. Too many players today exhibit this off-the-pitch behavior but Henry is cultivating a team of pure class. He is happily married with a young daughter and still finds the time to dominate the pitch.

Henry is also a masterful celebrator of goals. He often glides through the air with his arms out like wings, flying through the yelling and chanting of the Arsenal crowd. He also exhibits a passion, determination, and anger that get a crowd going be it at the game or in front of the television.

Thierry Henry is not a diver. He never has been and it looks like he never will be. Only once has the man actually dove, and afterwards he admitted it, explained it, and realized how wrong it was of him. It’s class like this that the modern day footballer should strive to possess, regardless of situation. Recently, Henry was yellow carded and stripped of a crucial goal in an away match in Moscow. Upset, absolutely, but he did not lose his cool during the match, yelling and crowding at the referee as another player might have (Chelsea… I’m looking at you).

In the last year we have seen Henry take on the captaincy for the gunners. He has handled this new role well, having never really acted as a leader before. While working with a very young but talented team, his leadership has been absolutely invaluable in upholding the standard of quality at Arsenal F.C. He has been widely criticized as of late, and although some of it may be warranted, we must not forget what he has done for the club. He deserves captaincy until he feels unfit for it.

The future is looking bright for Henry. Although Arsenal have faced problems in the last couple of games, we must remember that this Arsenal side is one of the youngest (the youngest?) in the Premiership, and Wenger is fostering talent at an age, pace, and quantity that hasn’t been encountered before at this high of a level. Arsenal will continue to perform well, win or lose, and in the years to come our club should hope to see some of the most beautiful and successful football in the world. This young and injury-ridden team made it all the way to the Champion’s League Finals. They then played 80 minutes one man down with one goal up against the competitor, Barcelona. Given that, we should rally behind Henry and hope to see his quality goals, skill, and leadership flourish.

To that end, I present a new wallpaper devoted to Henry. Enjoy it.

In a side note, a special thanks to atomicShed of Flickr for the fantastic centerpiece photo. I edited it heavily, but he deserves some kudos for this and all of his great Arsenal photos. He’s also got a great website with a good Highbury Salute photo set. He’s also got a fantastic image here, maybe I’ll do something with that one too.

Tomorrow I’ll have a much less Arsenal-patriotic post with some thoughts on what we could try to alleviate our current situation.  Come on you gunners!