Barcelona foward Thierry Henry looks to finally be headed to MLS, and the team he appears set to join should come as no surprise.
Henry, who has fallen out of favor at Barcelona, has agreed to a pre-contract deal with the New York Red Bulls for as long as three weeks now, according to SI.com. The French international will join the Red Bulls after the World Cup pending some compensation from New York, as Henry still has one more year under contract with the Spanish champions.
If all of the wrinkles are ironed out and Henry does finally make his move to MLS, he would join forward Juan Pablo Angel to form arguably the most talented pair of strikers in the league.
What do you think of Henry joining the Red Bulls? Think he and Angel are going to rip defenses apart? Are Red Bulls the favorite to lift the MLS Cup?
Share your thoughts below.
Both of Henry’s parents were born in CONCACAF. His father is from Guadeloupe and his mother is from Martinique.
Henry should not only sell out Red Bull Arena but I will not be surprised if he is selling out every away game as well.
Even if NYRB ran a 1-1-8 formaion, they could still use another striker like Henry. It’s gonna be fun watching a guy like that in our league.
I had my doubts that Beckham’s move would help MLS. But, here is a player substantially less ‘washed up’ than DB, who could really do some wonderful stuff with the football, deciding to come over and ply his trade here.. Maybe the talent coming over will keep up this trend of getting a little better every time there’s a big move.
Eventually, this type of thing could entice our talent to stay here when coming out of college and etc., but that won’t REALLY happen until the European leagues start scouting MLS a little more. It’s going to be a long process, but I think something like this REALLY helps the league out.
And to the arguments that Henry won’t hack it in MLS, he did play several seasons in the EPL, which is the best league in the world imo. Untouchable combo of class, and the most powerful and skilled players on the planet. There’s no arguing that he will be a force in MLS.
Can’t wait to see him courtside at the Knicks!
Not big into calling others out or anything like that, but i STRONGLY disagree with your assessment. MLS needs better everything, not just creative midfielders. Henry is one of the most recognizable names in the sport and is undoubtedly the biggest name – by far – to play in MLS, assuming the deal goes through.
IMO, you are dead wrong. Henry coming to MLS, especially in the New York market, will be HUGEEEE for MLS’ standing worldwide. This seriously could open the floodgates for other players to follow.
hahaha
arguably the most potent strike force?
henry by himself is more potent than any other two combined
shush…don’t speak of things like that (LD comment). Think of it but don’t put it in writing or say it. yes, I’m superstitious…
“Arguably the most talented pair of strikers in the league”? More like, UNDOUBTEDLY the most talented pair of strikers in the HISTORY of the league.
If someone can just fill me in on what makes Angel great at this point it’d be much appreciated. I still don’t think he’s shown anything at all this year and was invisible yet again yesterday. Nielsen showed some good glimpses and activity yesterday. I think at this point I’d much rather see a Nielsen/Henry tandem.
yeah no need for “arguably”…wouldnt be surprised if henry avgs 2 goals per game for his mls career
at this stage in his career, Donovan is better, but Henry will score more goals simply because he is a pure striker
btw, NYRB will sign Henry, but i assure you they will get the third DP slot and use it on a brazilian like Ze Roberto, Diego, or Ronaldinho who have all been linked
Um, one other note on the linked story. I think it is exactly right that top level players often do their best at a World Cup after having sufficient rest in the prior season.
And I am extremely worried about Landon Donovan, who has had very, very little rest for the past 2+ seasons.
Great!
But does he have anything left??? I attribute his goal scoring prowess last season (08/09) as much to the incredible Barca team as to anything individual on Henry’s end.
I’m sure Thierry Henry always dreamed of hoisting the CONCACAF Champions League trophy when he was a boy.
I think this is good for MLS. Hopefully they learned from the Beckham experiment and won’t overpay him. I liked to see every MLS team get a big name guy…even have them outside the salary cap. Though teams in Columbus, San Jose, etc aren’t a big draw for top players.
Shut up. He will be the best player in MLS ever.
I think the better of the MLS defenses will be able to deal with Thierry “OK”, which means he
ll create scoring chances, but not rip the better defenses apart; but what will make all the difference is that he will be so adept at beating the keeper once he has a chance. We don’t have many (any?) players in the MLS with a true world class finish today.
I hope he comes here to play at his 100% level of yesteryear – and if that means he DOES rip defenses apart, so be it! A joy to watch at his best, that one.
That’s an unfortunate (or maybe apt) photo; looks as though Henry has been caught red-handed yet again.
Good one. Especially with that picture above, it looks like he’s dribbling the ball basketball style.
Henry will be a bust. He’s going from Flag Football to to tackle he won’t hack in the MLS.
This is too rich. Henry is one of the biggest names in all of sport, maybe the best striker of the 00s, scored 25 goals for Barca just a season ago…and you’d rather have Blanco (not going to bag on Schelotto, that guy’s a beast).
That is true. Also our midfield thus far has only struggled when opponents go with 5 midfielders. Will they still be able to do that with Henry up-top??? Chicago went 4-4-2 Lindpere chewed’em up.
“Arguably the most talented pair of strikers in the league”? Who is arguing against that?!!
In the same vein, some would argue that this strikeforce would “arguably” be the best French/South American strike combo since Le Toux/Moreno.
+1
the big question is: when can i add him to my fantasy team?
24k, 13k, 15k, 17k…still would except more from them. i think henry will change everything though.
As we have seen, it is hard to predict how DPs will adjust to MLS. However, I think Henry is close to a sure thing. Henry didn’t get a lot of playing time this year, but just last year he scored 36 goals across all competitions. He won’t be provided the kind of service he was in Barcelona, but I would bet on a real impact from Henry.
MLS’s stock continues to sky rocket. As if the Red Bull stadium isn’t good enough, fans now get to watch Henry, far from over the hill, get to do his thing.
I know everyone is complaining about the midfield, but I think Lindpere will get even better as the season goes on and having Nielsen get up to speed will be a huge difference. The biggest issue right now is when the ball goes out to the right, because we know Dane or Jeremy aren’t going to put the ball where it needs to go.
Ze Roberto would more than boost the midfield. That would be an unstoppable left side.
I agree with “we need more midfielders” train of thought but Henry is a special class of a player. I think he will be great to watch and a great addition for the league. I am excited and I am a DC United fan.
I’m so sick of this ongoing Henry & RBNY. These two need to just shut up and have sex already.
Ha. Nice.
I think it is safe to say it will be the best striker force in the league. I believe only Allsopp and Cristman will be able to compete in terms of skill and goals…
Couldn’t agree more.
Questionable prediction.
No question that Angel-Henry will be the best strike pair in MLS. Can you imagine the space that Angel will get with defenses focused on Henry? If this happens, I think you would have to consider NYRB as serious title contenders.
Love the signing but of course there is still no one in the midfield to get him the ball. 🙁
sick
Henry = Blah! I know Henry will score his share of goals in the MLS but… In my view, what the Red Bulls and other MLS teams really need are more midfielders (playmakers type players) like schelotto and Blanco (ex-Fire mid) just to name a couple. They make their team and the game so much better every time they step on an MLS field. Just my 2 cents…
Prediction: Henry will only score 2 2010 goals (probably PKs). The Red Bulls will go out 1st round of the playoffs.
Ummm…80% increase in people attending this year. You might want to update your meme.
Funny, I was just going to say I’m glad Seattle has already played NY twice.
maybe they should put him in the net since he has such good hands.
I wish we could play Seattle again.
BTW “has agreed to a pre-contract deal with the New York Red Bulls for as long as three weeks now” doesn’t make sense.
Nice!!
Maybe NYRB can get some people to show up now?
Henry will shred other teams’ defenses apart. He still has unbelievable ball skills and first touch.
I will be interested to see what kind of formation RBNY will play once he gets here. Perhaps a 4-2-3-1, with Angle at the top and Henry either right or left (such as he has done with Barca), Lindpere in the middle and Nielsen on the other wing?
Maybe where there is smoke, there really is fire!