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Henry “probably out” for playoff opener

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By ADAM SERRANO

The New York Red Bulls are likely to begin the 2010 playoffs without the services of their star striker, Thierry Henry. 

Head coach Hans Backe told reporters on Tuesday that Henry is "probably out" for Saturday's playoff opener against the San Jose Earthquakes. The Designated Player trained on Tuesday, but he was reportedly experiencing too much discomfort to feature in Saturday's match. Henry has missed the last two matches for the Red Bulls with a knee strain. 

Backe also said that he is optimistic that there is a "possibility" that Henry will play in Thursday's second leg at Red Bull Arena. 

Starting to doubt if Henry will return at all in the playoffs? With Henry out, can you see the Earthquakes pulling off the upset?  

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I seriously dont think Henry can be compare to Beckham and some of you short sighted people are being really unreasonable and stupid. Do you want him to play injured blow out his knees, then you dont have him next season either ? Atleast he’s not planning his next loan Trip to Europe, so he can get called up by France. SMH

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  2. Ugh, I’m big Henry fan but this is getting ridiculous. I don’t buy that he injured his knee in practice recently; he’s looked off since before the LA game. The good news is that Marquez is more important to the Red Bulls than Henry and he’s looked good recently. And, of course, the real stars this season are Richard and Lindpere (and Condoul) so as long as they’re healthy, Red Bulls have a good chance.

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  3. Angel is gone after this season. And, yes, Henry is out of shape. He hardly played for Barça, and he never saw the pitch in the World Cup. And Juan Agudelo — who’s the one who took out Henry in a practice session — may well get the start. If Red Bulls get past San Jose, they stand a good chance; anybody can win any given game.

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  4. Can we stop acting like the Earthquakes are a garbage team that lucked into the playoffs? They finished 5 points behind New York in the final standings in a season when it was a balanced schedule. I am by no means saying that there is going to be a guaranteed upset, but this should be a very competitive two games.

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  5. RBNY should still be the favorite. But I’m getting a little exasperated with Thierry “Perpetual Knee Discomfort” Henry. How many games will this be that he has missed since joining the club? Is he just out of shape? This is yet another reason for keeping Angel around.

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  6. THis is my worst nightmare guys. I think we should either keep JPA or make sure we get another DP who is a forward. I would not WASTE DP on defender or midfielder we are very crowded at that position. Henry next year will from what I have heard from an insider will play very FEW games and we def. need new forwards. His knee injury is worse than people think

    and management does not want to let anyone know.

    We need another good forward.

    Lets go NY.

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  7. The depth of forwards? Are you joking? Wondo is the only one scoring for SJ.

    RBNY has Angel, Richards, Lindpere, Ballouchy all scoring goals (both forwards and midfield).

    Watching Convey chase and fail to catch Richards just last month should give you enough cause to worry.

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  8. JPA shouldn’t have to prove anything. The way NYRB have treated him the last few months has been terrible. I personally hope he mails it in against SJ to show how much he deserved to be treated like the stud that he is.

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  9. I think San Jose have a good chance of beating new york. why? because san jose has a very underated midfield. they have convey, alvarez,geovanni, and a very under radar K. Stephenson. That is a midfield full of talen experience right there against a richards, lindpere, marquez, and tchani. if san jose wins the midfield battle. beware of Wondo and the depth of forwards that San Jose has. their forward depth is much better than new york no doubt. but if new york wins that midfield battle. than it is game over for SJ unless Jon Busch has the best game of his career because the SJ defense is just not that good.

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  10. Backe: “Thierry, you have too much discomfort to play in the playoffs. You can’t even practice.”

    Henry: “We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice. I mean listen, we’re sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we’re talking about practice.”

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  11. I wouldn’t put the cart before the horse there, Edwin. Columbus has to get by Colorado, and I think Colorado is the true dark horse favorite in these playoffs. I watched them 2x against RSL in the last weeks of the season and they played well in both those games (except for the last 3 minutes of each- heehee).

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  12. Red Bulls should still be favorites. Between Lindpere, Richards, JPA, and Marquez, they have plenty of game changers. It’ll be interesting to see if the quakes can pull off another smash and grab; they seem to have made a habit of it this season (even at home).

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  13. Red Bulls were a good team BEFORE Henry and Marquez made them the 1st team with 3 DP’s but now they are great and Tchani is developing more and more, is just a matter of them putting away their chances, most of those are from Henry, he should have a good 10 goals by now, that’s what Ives predicted he would score, I say rest him and let him play in the East Final vs hopefully Columbus. I’d love to see a Sell out at Crew Stadium this year. They have enough to beat the quakes without Henry

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  14. Who else does he play? Well I guess there’s Juan Agudelo? Why not, he can’t be worst than that sorry excuse of a sub Backe is somewhat loyal to for minutes.

    Although I would LOVE to see Austin Da Luz or Irving Garcia, I think one of them plays FW so who knows, but I would just play with Ballouchy up top almost withdrawn and Marquez and Tchani in the middle shutting out SJ

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  15. “Playoffs? Don’t talk about Playoffs, let him get healthy and we’ll throw him in a scrimmage vs back ups and reserves and then we’ll see when he’s Fully healthy”

    That’s what I think Backe would say since they should have little trouble of beating San Jose in San Jose and then worst at RBA. Didn’t the beat them at RBA not too long ago without Henry?

    I don’t think Convey or Corralea or whomever plays on the left will deal with the guy on the right for NY, Dane Richards is on fire, I hope he maintains his level of play in Gold Cup and all of next season to see Henry, Marquez and whomever Red Bull brings in to replace JPA score tons of goals!

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