By RYAN TOLMICH
Just one day after announcing his departure, former New York Red Bulls star Thierry Henry offered a look at his future plans while reflecting on his time in Major League Soccer.
Henry, who announced he would be leaving the Red Bulls after four seasons with the club, took the chance to reminisce over his time in MLS, which ended Saturday with a loss to the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference finals.
“I remember my first season – if you can call it my first season because I was nowhere near fit – it looked like we were a team that could win it and San Jose came in here and stopped that,” Henry said. “I think we’re not far now. I still say ‘we’. I think the team is not far now.
“There was more togetherness in the last two months. I think the game against New England showed that at their place. We gave it a go and the team is on the right path, but the last step is always a difficult one. Hopefully, this team can do it ASAP.”
Henry, who revealed he is still uncertain about retirement, went on to discuss how much he will miss the Red Bulls locker room atmosphere.
“It is emotional. I won’t see those guys anymore,” Henry said. “I won’t scream at them anymore – I’m sure they won’t miss that – but like I said so many times, it was for the good of the team. When you see me getting upset or happy or whatever, it’s for the good of the team.
“When I’m on the field, you see my competitor side, and sometimes it’s not a pretty one, but I’m cool, too,” Henry added. “I know maybe you don’t see it like that, but I’m cool, too. I like to joke around, the guys will tell you that. But I will miss that, I will miss being around the dressing room. Don’t go and say I’m retiring, I’m just saying here. Being around, being able to joke with the guys and them having a go at me, me at them, the usual stuff that you kind of enjoy.”
With his retirement plans up in the air, the Frenchman admitted that he is holding on to a “wish” of a return to Arsenal, the club where he made his name from 1999 to 2007.
“That’s the wish,” Henry said of an Arsenal return. “Christmas is arriving soon, so it’s a wish. It’s not something that’s going to happen like this. It is a wish. Everybody knows how much I love the club, my feeling about it. It is a wish right now. I’m not trying to get out of the question, but it’s only a day now [since I announced my departure], so, yeah, it is a wish.”
Overall, regardless of his past or future, Henry reiterated that, for him, the most important part of his time with the Red Bulls was his ability to help make his teammates, and the league, better than it was before he came.
“For me, at the end of the day, having those guys saying to me that they kind of got something from me being here, there is nothing better than when you can help your teammates mentally or any other way to be a better player,” Henry said. “That’s something that I will always take on board more than the rest.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re here obviously to perform and to win, but that’s the type of thing that I came with in my head when I came here, to make sure I can help people get better.”
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What do you think of Henry’s departure? See him getting his wish of rejoining Arsenal? What will be your lasting memory of Henry’s Red Bulls career?
Share your thoughts below.
Henry’s a class act.
I hope Thierry gets his wish. He was fantastic to watch live. I learned so much from him.