How Good Was Thierry Henry? 🇫🇷
"How good was Thierry Henry in the UEFA Champions League? We're looking back at one of Europe's finest ever players; from the electrifying nights under the Highbury lights, to the grand stages of the continent. A star for Monaco, Arsenal and Barcelona, Henry has given European football so much and now we're celebrating the career of one of football's most elegant attackers. What is your favourite moment of Thierry Henry's Champions League career? Let us know in the comments down below! ChampionsLeague UEFA ThierryHenry 🔔 Subscribe to the official UEFA YouTube channel now for the best content from across Europe's elite competitions! Follow us on Social Media: UEFA Champions League: https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague https://www.instagram.com/championsleague https://www.tiktok.com/@championsleague https://www.facebook.com/ChampionsLeague/ UEFA Europa League: https://twitter.com/EuropaLeague https://www.instagram.com/europaleague https://www.tiktok.com/@europaleague https://www.facebook.com/EuropaLeague/ UEFA Conference League: https://twitter.com/ConfLeague https://www.instagram.com/conferenceleague https://www.tiktok.com/@conferenceleague https://www.facebook.com/EuropaLeague/ UEFA Women's Champions League: https://twitter.com/UWCL https://www.instagram.com/wchampionsleague https://www.tiktok.com/@womensfootball https://www.facebook.com/WChampionsLeague/ 📺 Watch more at: https://www.uefa.tv/ 💻 Visit our Website at: https://www.uefa.com/
Transcript
There's a particular feeling every defender and goalkeeper in Europe knew by heart in the 2000s. The ball drops through on the left, one touch inside, and you fear [music] exactly what's coming. Open the body, roll it low into the far corner. Most great strikers have a signature finish. His was so recognizable you could call it out before it happened. Skillful. >> [cheering] >> Confident. Opposition fan or not, when he had the ball, you held your breath. >> Yes, Thierry, I found you. What are you doing here? >> So, how good was Thierry Henry? To understand how he got here, you have to go back to where nearly every great French footballer of that generation started, Clairefontaine. >> [music] >> The French Football Federation's academy outside Paris is football's right of passage for a generation of French talent. If you are a serious young baller coming through France, Clairefontaine [clears throat] is where you prove it. Henry went through it as a teenager, sharpening the raw talent that would take him from these roots, the Paris suburbs where he was born, to the very top of the game. He turned professional at Monaco at just 17 [music] years old, and it's there that his career finds its most defining relationship with a manager named Arsène Wenger. [music] >> When I saw him, I make him start in Monaco because I thought he had good movement. I could see something special in him. >> Wenger spotted something in the teenage Henry and took him under his wing, shaping the raw pace, [music] talent, and instinct into something dangerously formidable. The progress was rapid, as in 1996 Henry was named [music] Young French Footballer of the Year. The following season, he helped fire Monaco to the French title. Then in 97-98, he was let loose on the Champions League stage for the first time and announced himself immediately. Monaco rode that form all the way to the semi-finals before falling to Juventus. Henry's numbers that season [music] tell their own story. Seven goals in nine Champions League games, aged just 20, playing as a left winger, not yet as a striker. >> [cheering] >> Performances like that don't go unnoticed, and France manager Aimé Jacquet was watching closely. The senior call-up was only a matter of time. He achieved that in October 1997, and when '98 came around, Henry got the call-up to represent France at the World Cup on home soil. Everyone remembers Zidane's two headers in that World Cup final at the Stade de France. But what people forget is that the tournament's top scorer for France that summer was Henry. Three goals as a 20-year-old in the competition his country would go on [music] to win. A World Cup winner before he'd even turned 21. In January 1999, Henry had gone to Juventus from Monaco and found himself stuck out wide, his talent underused and his career [music] stalling. It's around this time that one of football's great mentor stories takes shape. Henry has always called Wenger his spiritual father, and the legend goes that in '99 the two found themselves on the same flight back to France after a game in Italy. Wenger turned to him and said, "Thierry, you are wasting your time on the wing. You are a number nine. It would be great if we could meet again. And Wenger got his [music] wish. He brought on me to Arsenal in a French revolution of players that would go on to revolutionize modern English [music] football. A new era for Arsenal and one in which Henry would become an absolute beast. Off the pitch, too. [music] And there was a nice bit of personal satisfaction in the '01-'02 season. At Highbury, Henry gave Juve a very clear reminder of what they let go. >> [music] [music] >> Now, before we go any further, don't go anywhere. If you pause this video right now and ask any Arsenal fan who their favorite Arsenal player of all time is, 9.9 times out of 10, you're getting one answer. Henry. And if you don't believe me, I'll show you. Who would you say your favorite Arsenal player is of all time? >> Uh all time would probably be >> Yours is Trossard. >> Ignore that one. Who is your favorite Arsenal player of all time? >> Of all time, Thierry Henry. >> Henry. Oh, yeah, definitely. >> Thierry Henry, has to be. >> He's why I fell in love with Arsenal Football Club. >> He never got the Ballon d'Or, which I don't understand. >> He was part of the Invincibles. >> The tattoo with his num- with his number on it. >> Okay, wait. So, you've said this guy has said to me Declan Rice is favorite player. But, can we show the tattoo here? >> Uh mine's probably Mesut Özil. >> Mesut Özil. >> I mean, yeah, Henry's the obvious answer, but >> [laughter] >> Now he comes out and says Henry, so I thought I'd be a bit different. >> No, I want to say >> Okay, [laughter] wait. Why did he say Henry? >> Yeah, that Trossard one was crazy. But, >> [music] >> it wasn't just Arsenal he took over. Henry we're talking. It was the country. From 2001, Henry spent years chasing the meaning of va-va-voom in those Renault Clio adverts. >> [music] >> And the phrase even ended up in the Oxford English dictionary by 2004. Being very attractive Well, thought I was talking about myself then. Being very [music] exciting, attractive, glamorous, or full of energy. >> Oh, I was going to get some chilies. I forgot about that. >> I've got chilies. >> You got chilies? >> Surprisingly, I brought chilies in today. So, the younger generation won't get this reference. >> So, I don't get it. >> I don't get the reference as well. Henry became a cultural phenomenon. And if you don't get this reference, then this is awkward. Because even I don't. But I mean told for you to go watch the adverts. Forget the best player of all time debate for a second. Let's think instead about the players [music] who completely own a club's identity. Not just the great players, but the unanimous, undisputed number [music] one in the hearts of that club's fans. Who makes your top five? Now, for me, for everyone in this room, I'm putting Maradona at Napoli first. Messi at Barcelona in the second. Totti at Roma third. Henry at Arsenal fourth. And then the fifth one is an interesting one. Do I put Gerrard at Liverpool? Del Piero at Juventus? [music] Shearer at Newcastle? That one, I've no idea. But I'm letting you guys in the comments decide your top five and let me know who you'd put fifth [music] or if you disagree with me on everything. But Henry for me should definitely be in there. Back to Arsenal where Henry's rise was immediate. Albeit, he didn't score in his first seven Premier League games. And I can't believe it, James. He actually went double-07. But in that first full season, 1999 to 2000, he scored 17 [music] goals in 31 Premier League games and seven in eight UEFA Cup matches. Arsenal fought all the way to the final in Copenhagen only to lose on penalties to Galatasaray. But just six weeks later, Henry got his shot at silverware anyway, helping France to glory at Euro 2000. He scored the crucial equalizer in the semi-final win over Portugal. >> [music] >> Then took home man of the match in the final against Italy without scoring or assisting a single goal. >> [cheering] >> If you needed an early sign of just how selfless a player Henry was, this was it. And honestly, wait until we get to the '02-'03 season. But here's the debate that still rages. Should Henry have won the Ballon d'Or in 2003? The case for him is almost absurd once you look at the numbers. In the '02-'03 season, Henry was in the form of his life. 32 goals across all competitions for Arsenal. In the Premier League alone, 24 goals and 20 assists in just 37 [music] appearances. Please, sit with that just for a second. He wasn't just Arsenal's top scorer that season. He was their top creator, too. And the moments back it up. His hat-trick versus Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in '02. >> [music] >> Or the assist for the fastest Champions League goal at the time versus PSV. He was directly involved in nearly 60% of Arsenal's goals in the league and Champions League combined that season. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year. He won the FWA Footballer of the Year. The case surely writes itself. But then so did the case for Juventus' Pavel Nedvěd that year. 14 goals from midfield and arguably robbed of a Champions League final because he was suspended for it. Remember that goal versus Real Madrid in the semi-final? That probably sealed it. >> [music] >> If '03 was a debate, '03-'04 might be the answer. It's like Michael Jordan. It was personal to Henry. The Ballon d'Or was not needed. This was the season of Invincibles, Arsenal's unbeaten Premier League campaign where Henry achieved immortality. [music] He finished as the club's top scorer with 30 league goals, 39 in all competitions, claiming the Premier League Golden Boot. Along the way came one of the great Arsenal away day results of the era, a 5-1 win at Inter in November '03. >> [music] [music] >> In '05, Henry became Arsenal's all-time top goal scorer with his two goals against Sparta Praha to take his tally to 186, surpassing Ian Wright's record of 185. By the time he left, it was [music] 228 goals, a record that still stands today. >> [cheering] >> Then there's 2006, a year that could have been the greatest of his career. At the Bernabéu, Henry produced one of his finest ever Champions League performances. >> [cheering] [music] [cheering] >> The question I have for you guys is, which was the biggest aura farming moment? His goal versus Real Madrid >> [music] >> or the wasting of the time? You know what, actually, I'm going to go meet him. I'll ask him. >> Yeah, yeah. You're not going to meet him. >> What do you mean I'm not going to meet him? >> You're not going to meet him. >> I'm going to go meet Henry. Wait right there. Where might I find Thierry Henry? Thierry. A man of style. A man who oozes class. Monaco. Now that that looks promising. Yes. Yes, Thierry, I found you. >> What are you doing here? >> Lovely to meet you. I traveled so far. >> be professional here. >> Yeah, but I have traveled so far to see you. And finally, I'm here to have a chat. >> You know what, you you can do whatever you want. You have a nice little t-shirt there. >> Yes, thank you. I'm wearing this top because we're doing a series of how good was Thierry Henry. And I thought who better to ask than you yourself. >> Absolutely. Oh, that's a good one. >> So, what we're going to do is I'm going to show you some videos and we're going to rank your best aura moments. >> All right. >> Because I feel like you were one of the pioneers of the aura farming. >> That the little look there. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, I know I know you know. >> Okay. >> So, talk me through here. What's going through your mind in the hearing? >> Well, at the beginning I wanted to play the ball to Robert Pires, but then I couldn't. And so, because I squared and hit it at moment, I was like, let me go back [music] on my left and go across. Here, I was putting on a show them making believe that he caught me. Looking to see who I pass to. Robert back, couldn't play him. So, then I go back on my left and go across. And then the celebration was good also. >> [music] >> This goal is is is crazy because I I was on the bench and I wasn't supposed to play. I came on and then I scored from a great pass from uh Kolo Touré. And when when the ball arrived again, I wanted to play Van Persie. >> This is exactly what I was going to ask you. I was literally >> And then I was like, "Yeah, you know what?" >> But then again, you finished it yourself. >> So then after I showed you my technique to be able to execute it, and and then the rest is history cuz I out-leveled Wrighty, and then later on I passed him. >> [cheering] >> Well, that's Madrid away. As soon as I controlled that ball, I knew I wanted to go to goal. Anyway, I was playing as a lone striker on the day. So, I was like, "I can't be passing the ball to nobody." When that window is open, it's me and Sergio Ramos. You see windows and you try to make sure that before they close is you you can you can you can get in. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Now, this. Uh this is one of the moments. This is This is from This is what I always see on social media. >> This is something that uh a lot of people is kind of weird talk to me about. >> If you look at the If you look at the >> Yeah, it's the after that you like, right? Just killed the game. Go to the corner flag. What you I mean, what then you need to put a bit of sauce in it. >> It's exactly what I would have done for us playing Burnley as well, to be fair. >> [laughter] >> So, can you rank those four all-or-nothing moments? Which one would you put first? >> It's very difficult to top the goal at the at uh Santiago Bernabéu. Very difficult to top that. The rest, you can do whatever you want. But for me, that that that goal, being able to execute what I did execute there and and finish the way I did finish, it's very difficult to top that. >> So, my final question to you. >> Yes. >> How good were you? >> Shh, I don't know, man. No, I wasn't bad, that's for sure. >> [laughter] >> Looks like you got to I've got to get back to the studio to finish off the episode. >> Hey, let us work, please. Okay, have a good one. See you. Bye. Yeah, there you go. >> But cruelly, 2006 ended up being defined by two losses. Arsenal lost that year's Champions League final. France lost that summer's World Cup final. The best year of his career and he walked away from both finals with nothing. In June '07, Henry made his move to Spain, to Barcelona, the very club that had denied him Champions League glory 12 months [music] earlier. He slotted into a dressing room stacked with talent. Messi, Eto'o, Xavi, >> [music] >> Iniesta. His first season ended in a Champions League semi-final heartbreak, beaten by the eventual champions Manchester United. By '08, Pep Guardiola arrived and well, >> [music] >> when Pep arrives, success usually follows. It was a changing of the guard for Barcelona, too, with icons like Ronaldinho and Deco moving on, clearing the path for a new era. And what an era it turned out to be. That season, that Barcelona side would go down as one of the greatest teams in the history of the game. And Henry was right at the center of their rise, or should I say on the left. Your left would be here. Two goals against Lyon in the last 16 tie. >> [music] [music] >> A goal and an assist in a 4-0 demolition of Bayern Munich in the quarter-final. Guardiola's Barcelona became Spain's first ever treble winners, blowing past Ferguson's Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League final to finally hand Henry the winner's medal that had eluded him for so long. 31 years old and still very much one of the elite. By the time he'd conquered Europe and moved on to a new challenge in the United States, there was one thing left for Henry to do before [music] he retired. He had to run it back one more time. He returned to Arsenal on loan in 2012 and gave the club and football fans everywhere [music] one last moment to remember him by. That goal against Leeds. A final signature finish that gave you chills the second it hits the net, except for you Leeds fans, of course. Henry's career was a journey that took him from Clairefontaine to Monaco. From Monaco all the way to a World Cup and from Arsenal across to Barcelona. Picking up every honor the game has to offer along the way. The standard never dropped. A World Cup winner, a European champion, a treble winner, and above all of it, the most [music] important to him, an Arsenal legend. He did all of this with a swagger artistry nobody else could touch and he made many [music] things look cool. Wearing the number 14 long before rolling your socks down to the ankle was the look. Henry had his pulled up over the knee and it looked cool. He was this tall, lanky frame, not your typical low center of gravity dribbler, and [music] yet every bit as silky on the ball. >> [music] >> He played with a style that disrespected opponents without [music] ever needing to say a word about it. A way of playing that created an era of players wanting to be the [music] next him. That's Thierry Henry.