Henry Nominated for FIFA World Player of The Year [Official]

[Its only Ray Parlour]

I told you....

The shortlist will be out of Henry, Zidane and Ronaldo.

I believe he won the vote as already outlined in a previous thread.

[Jon Pall]

NO Nedved? My top three would be Nedved, Henry, and Ruud.

[um_chili]

I haven't seen the team consistently throughout the year, but what I have seen--and especially Henry's performance yesterday at Inter--make me think he richly deserves to win. The second goal he scored when 1v1 with the defender in the box was one of the best I've seen.

[greenbill]

Originally posted by um_chili
I haven't seen the team consistently throughout the year, but what I have seen--and especially Henry's performance yesterday at Inter--make me think he richly deserves to win. The second goal he scored when 1v1 with the defender in the box was one of the best I've seen.
And he made that one look so easy too. He seemed to accelerate so easily (past J. Zanetti?) after he received the ball. Followed by that ice-cold finish...

Certainly one of the best players in the world at this moment.

[CA_Gooner]

I think Henry has the inside edge because of the Conferederations Cup where many of the national coaches that vote saw him sizle. Hopefully they don't vote for the name (Ronaldo) and do base it on football achievement. Henry fully deserves the prize as most people that have watched him over the last year can attest to.

BBC did a comparison of Henry with the best players in the other major European leagues. I think they did a pretty good assessment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3239362.stm

[Martin Daoust]

Originally posted by um_chili
I haven't seen the team consistently throughout the year, but what I have seen--and especially Henry's performance yesterday at Inter--make me think he richly deserves to win. The second goal he scored when 1v1 with the defender in the box was one of the best I've seen.

Absolutely-that was just brilliant and having watched Henry score a LOT of brilliant goals since coming to Arsenal and this goal certainly ranks with his very best. But it was his overall performance that showed him to be the best football player in the world right now. He is clearly the best attacking player on the planet-period. And in the footballer of the year debate as positively influential to his team as any player at any club right now. Even if there's any doubt the fact that two of the other finalists are from Real Madrid will split their support and give the award to Henry who deserves it anyway. We are privileged to have him playing for US....

[Catfish]

Henry finished 2nd in goals but 1st in assist last season. Arsenal finished 2nd in the league and won the FA Cup.

He is now leading the Prem in goals, also is the best player on the Prem leading club. So do the math? Best player on the best club in arguably the best league!

[CA_Gooner]

He was also ranked first by Four Four Two magazine as best striker in the world this year. The panel that voted included the best players and coaches in the world. RvN was 5th.

[Spartak]

What a joke that Nedved didn't even finish in the top 3. FIFA should be embarressed. I hope Henry wins now. Because Ronaldo and Zidane don't deserve it.

[BayouGooner]

Originally posted by Catfish
Best player on the best club in arguably the best league!

Well, I think the Premiership currently has 3 of the best teams in the world, but I think the league is seriously lacking in quality when compared with Serie A and La Liga.

However, TH14 definitetly deserves to win. Unlike Ronaldo and Zidane, Titi's contribution is absolutely vital to his teams success. He's the MVP of soccer in my book.

[Its only Ray Parlour]

You should see the backpages of all the national papers here for there thursday editions...they've all gone Henry crazy.

Personally i think too much hype is dangerous and i know Henry has an amazingly experienced head on his shoulders but i really wouldn't like to see him hounded around like other stars have been in this country.

Lets hope the adoration he gets stays mainly on the field as one of the things he loves about living in this country is he is allowed to be himself and left alone when he's out and about.

Winning an award like this can send a player's profile into the orbit. Mega sponsorship deals, more TV ads and magazines, etc. I know he does this to a certain extent already but he has more or less a quiet appreciation of his phenomenal talent.

Look what happened to Ronaldo, when he was 18-21 he was on course to be the best ever player in the game, he was simply untouchable, i had never personally seen so much ability in a player so young before, but he got derailed for years with injuries and stress culminating in the events leading towards the World Cup Final of '98 and he's only really beginning to approach the true level he was at before but he now will never reach the heights many had predicted he could go to.

I hope we are able to protect him from too much exposure and let him continue to develop into one of the truely great players of his generation.

[CA_Gooner]

Zidane has won the FIFA award twice and no one can accuse him of having it go to his head. I hope that Henry can follow Zidane's lead and let his on the field work do the talking. I think Henry has done that well up to this point.

[michaec]

Originally posted by its_only_ray_parlour Lets hope the adoration he gets stays mainly on the field as one of the things he loves about living in this country is he is allowed to be himself and left alone when he's out and about. I don't think that will be too much of a problem, people here are generally pretty reserved and as long as he doesn't go courting publicity a la Beckham he should be just fine.

[CA_Gooner]

Gavin Hamilton from World Soccer was complaining about the three choices that FIFA had for the player of the year being unworthy in his online column. He went on to say "No place for Pavel Nedved, Raul, Ruud Van Nistelrooy or Paolo Maldini -any of whom would make a far worthier winner than FIFA's holy trinity. "

This was the most obsurd statement:

"In the last few days, Thierry Henry has been touted as the world's best player on the basis of his goals against Inter in Milan. But one game does not a World Player make, and Arsenal, lest we forget, failed to reach the knockout stage of last season's Champions League."

Either this #!@* has tuned out during the Premier League this season and last and didn't realize that France had played in the last year or he is a rabid Arsenal hater. I can't believe this guy claims to be a football writer. "One game does not a World Player make." I did not realize the Premiership was an amateur league. I guess that what we get from an amateur magazine like World Soccer.

Read the ignorance here:

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/worldsoccer/editor/271103.php

[jegerpenge]

yeh, i sent that douche a lengthy and intelligent piece pointing out how wrong he is, and how much of a complete and utter moron he has been for writing that unresearched piece of garbage that he has the nerve to call an article. that is all

[Spartak]

I just sent that man an article saying how he was right. :D What do you guys want, everybody to get on thier knees and praise the mighty Henry? Everybody has thier opinion and I agree with what he said. First of all, Van Nistelrooy, Nedved, and Maldini were just as good last year as Henry. The difference is that they led thier clubs to success whereas Henry didn't. If it were just about who was the best player last year than Francesco Totti would be getting more mentions for World Player of the Year than he is currently getting. Totti carried Roma on his back last year and if it wasn't for his 14 league goals and countless assists Roma would have been relegated. But Roma didn't win anything, that is why he isn't going to win any awards. The same can be said for Roy Makaay as he scored loads of goals but Depor didn't win anything so he isn't mentioned.

[jegerpenge]

you know, for someone who claims to be a milan fan, you certainly have a hardon for nedved. i guess henry didn't lead his team to winning the confederations cup this summer? or to dominating the premiership, but coming in second overall to a united side that finished strong at the very end. don't get me wrong, i'm not downplaying maldini, he is my favorite player ever, but he has been on the decline since the world cup. he led milan to win the champs league, but only through captaincy. nesta is a better player and defender at this stage in his career and maldini is not getting any younger. henry also led arsenal to winning the FA cup. he was the second highest scorer in the premiership and he shattered the premiership record for assists. totti scored 14 goals in the league last season? henry had 24. i don't know how many assists totti had, but was it over 20? probably not. there is nothing you can say that can convince us that henry is not the greatest player in the world. you are wasting your time trolling on the board, and it's really rather annoying. so if this is all you're going to do, go away and quit bothering us.

[Spartak]

Originally posted by jegerpenge
there is nothing you can say that can convince us that henry is not the greatest player in the world.
Well, I find this quote quite annoying. It just shows how biased you really are. Pavel Nedved plays for the team I hate the most in Italy but I can still see that he is a great player. And 14 goals for Totti is more impressive than 24 goals for Henry, imo. Totti scored 14 goals in 24 games in an injury plagued season. I don't know the exact number of assists Totti made but he contributed to almost every goal Roma scored last year when he was on the pitch. And he is also a midfielder which makes his goals more impressive than Henry's. And if your going to throw out Henry winning the FA Cup I guess Maldini winning the Coppa Italia was important too :D And winning the Confederations Cup was not an achievement. Sheesh, the USA even sent a B team.

And if a "Troll" is someone who disagrees with you Arsenal supporters than I guess I am one. I see you all like to reside in your own personal comfort zone where Thierry Henry is unmatched by any other player in the world. But I warn you that once you leave the hallowed grounds of this Arsenal board there might be people who disagree with you. So be warned.

[jegerpenge]

yes, we are biased...arsenal is our favorite team and although we recognize other great players, we all know that henry is the greatest player in the world. you see, that is what bias is, having a favorite. you can be annoyed all you want, it won't change anything. we can be annoyed with you, but it obviously won't make you go away. and goals more impressive than henry's...who are you trying to kid? did you d/l the video that giggs81, or whatever his name was, gave us the links to. henry's goals are top class. they are dripping in flair and style. he is the essence of cool on the pitch. a troll is actually someone who has his/her own board, but is constantly over here putting forth useless arguments over and over again. we had recently had a quiet period before you came along. and we accept your warning for what it is. yes people may disagree with us, but none as obnoxiously as you have. you hover in this limbo of stagnate retardation and intelligent argument which makes you annoying, and difficult to ignore at the same time. even manure trolls usually leave by now. there is nothing that we can say that can convince you that henry is the best player in the world. so i am labelling you a hypocrite and asking you once again to leave us alone.

[Spartak]

Hmm, I was under the impression that BigSoccer was a message board where fans from clubs all over the world could have intelligent discussions with each other. I guess I was wrong. You see, when I want to talk to just Milan supporters I go to www.milanmania.com . I'm sure there are countless Arsenal only forums for you to go to. Why don't you go there if you don't want other fans "invading" your Arsenal board?