HARRISON, N.J. — Thierry Henry may or may not play in Major League Soccer beyond this season. That he could probably carry on, if he so desires, until he is 40 (he is now 36) is probably not the point.
On Saturday night at Red Bull Arena, the adulation that Henry accumulated in his years at Arsenal in north London and with the Red Bulls came cascading down from the capacity crowd of more than 25,000 fans — most of them wearing the red jerseys with white sleeves of the Gunners (even though the Arsenal players were wearing their new Puma alternate shirts of yellow and navy blue).
Before the game, Red Bulls supporters camped out in the stadium’s South Ward unfurled a banner in tribute to Henry. When Henry took a corner kick at the opposite end of the stadium, fans rose as one for a standing ovation, which Henry returned by clapping his hands over his head.
“It was nice to see the stadium full, and they were either Arsenal fans or Red Bulls fans, so it was the best of both worlds for me,” Henry said after the match, a 1-0 Red Bulls victory. “It wasn’t the most important thing to win the game, but at the end of the day, we won it.”
Henry became a star after he was signed by Arsenal Manager Arsène Wenger, and he played for the Gunners from 1999 to 2007, becoming the top scorer in the storied club’s history. He stressed all week that the match, while intriguing, was still a sideshow compared with the task ahead in league play for the Red Bulls.
“Well, it’s a friendly game, so it’s different, you know,” Henry said last week. “My mind is on Salt Lake, to be honest with you. I know there is a game on Saturday. I know it’s going to be all nice and everything, but you know, all I know is that on Saturday we’re not going to get 3 points if we win.”
He added: “It’s a friendly game. Hopefully it’s going to be a nice break for us from the league to be able to enjoy the game a bit, you know, with the fans and to be able to perform against Arsenal, try to give them a good game because they came here to prepare for their season. But like I said, we won’t be able to get 3 points at the end of the game, so it’s a friendly game.”
That corner by Henry resulted in the game’s only goal, scored by Bradley Wright-Phillips, the son of Ian Wright, Henry’s longtime teammate at Arsenal. The victory was the first by an M.L.S. club against an international opponent this summer and came only days after Manchester United drubbed the Los Angeles Galaxy, 7-0, and on the same night that Tottenham, Arsenal’s north London rival, beat the Chicago Fire, 2-0.
“He played well, and his teammates played very well as well,” Wenger said after the game, referring to Henry, a fellow Frenchman. “You could see that everybody was focused and ready for a fight. If they can maintain that kind of commitment and solidarity, and if they can keep Thierry Henry in this form, I think they have a good chance to come back in a strong position.”
Wenger added: “Thierry can be dangerous from everywhere. He understands very quickly what he can take advantage from.” Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Facing a midweek match in Utah, the Red Bulls (5-6-9, 24 points) are in fifth place in M.L.S.'s Eastern Conference, looking up at Sporting Kansas City (11-5-5, 38 points), which won its fifth straight road game Saturday night (after dropping a midweek game to Manchester City, 4-1). The Red Bulls’ crowded schedule will not get any easier, with league matches and matches in the Concacaf Champions League coming.
For Henry, questions continue to be asked about his plans beyond this season. Although he has been mum, his play this season has been nothing short of stellar (his 10 assists lead the league). Against Arsenal, he orchestrated the Red Bulls’ attack in the first 45 minutes, playing his controlled passing game.
Still, the Red Bulls’ global director of soccer, Gérard Houllier, said that Henry was most likely playing his final season.
“l’ll have a talk with Thierry soon, and of course I’ll know,” Houllier told BigAppleSoccer.com on Saturday. “I have an idea; I think he wants to retire. I think he wants to retire, but we need to check with him. His performance today was good.”
Told of Houllier’s comment, Henry said: “Oh, he said that? Nothing else to say. We’ll talk at end of season.”
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