It’s Time For Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry is one of the best players in the world, of that there is no question, from any section of fans the world over, so why is he so frequently over looked for the World and European awards?

The Arsenal captain was narrowly pipped to the title of World player of the year in 2003 & 2004 even though his goal scoring and assist rate were instrumental in leading Arsenal the FA cup & League glory, & helped the Gunners acheive immortality by becoming the first English side to go an entire campaign unbeaten in over 100 years (and that was only 18 games).

However, if you look at Henry’s statistics it is staggering to think that he has never ever been awarded either European or World player of the year. Henry has scored more than 30 goals in all competitions in his last five seasons in a row in an amazing show of consistency, winning the Premierships golden boot in four of those five seasons.

His honours include a world cup winners & runners up medal, he has also won the European Championships with his home nation. One French league title & French super cup, two premier league titles, three fa cups, two charity sheilds, four golden boots, two European golden boots, A UEFA cup runners up medal and he also captained the Gunners to this years Champions League final. Impressive huh?

Henry has also scored a massive 49 Champions League goals, I’m not sure how many that is off the top scorer but it’s not many I know.

Maybe it’s because his record in international football isn’t that great, because Henry never performs for France, right? Wrong! Titi has scored 36 times in 83 appearences for France.

How can a player with such impressive statistic be passed over so many times? Is the fact that these awards are voted for by International coaches and/or journalists?

It’s not like Henry scores all of his goals from 5 yards out or ‘johnny hangs’, his goals are goals of real quality. His style of football is electric and coveted by every striker in the world. Thunder bolts, amazing solo efforts, his trade mark finish into the right hand corner that all keepers know is coming but are powerless to stop. He is a great goal scorer & a scorer of great goals.

Henry is also a perfect role model for the youngsters in today’s game. Doesn’t drink, you never see him stumbling out of a night club at four in the morning (are you paying attention Ash?). On top of Henry being an incredibly nice guy, he has also spearheaded a campaign to kick racism out of football by helping founder the ‘Stand up, speak up’ organisation.

So after leading Arsenal to a Champions League final, narrowly missing out on a second World Cup Winners medal, winning another golden boot and becoming the first player to win the ‘Football Writers Award’ three times, will this be Thierry Henry’s year?

I can’t tell you that, but it’s time for me to stop arse kissing and let his football do the talking, the new season is upon us and it won’t be long before Le God is banging them in for the Gunners once more.