About the only thing Henry did consistently last night was foul guys from behind on near breakaways, something which will endear him to the rest of the league. I agree that at times he seemed to clog things up. One time I found myself yelling at the TV for him to get out of the way as one of the other guys came forward quickly. Then he tries these quick flip passes instead of gathering the ball. It is WAYYYY early, and things hopefully will turn around in a big way. But I have this fear that T.H.'s missed header in the playoffs last year will be his legacy. Angel may have been offsides a tad too much, but he could bury the header, and he got friggin' mad once in a while, a quality I like. And another quick note, having Rafa take all these corners is great and all, but having to stand around waiting for him to jog up from his defensive spot kills the momentum. Have Lindpere do it instead, please.
DeRo is also capable. No idea why we have to shift our entire system just to take corners. Especially when we're losing. But yes, Henry drifted back way too much this game. He might be having some Nkufo-like second thoughts about being target man, but now that we have DeRo, he really has no choice, and no excuses. I'm an Agudelo fanboy, but I don't know if he can carry the team if he's the only guy up front, seeing as Richards needs to track back to defend as well. Something's gotta give before RSL run away with it early in the season. We did dominate (and defeat) last year's Supporter's Shield winners at their home without him.
To the people saying Henry is not making an effort, he's always been a lazy Frenchman, just like the sulk, Anelka. He may seem lazy but for Arsenal he used to still make things happen, same with Barca until that final half of the season where he fizzled out. He was never a 90 minute runner. But honestly I think the Red Bulls will be fine now that you have DeRosario that will take a lot of pressure off of the forwards. That's how it was in Houston. The guy is a special player that stretches defenses and makes people around him better.
The worry that people are having is that our team seems to be fielding 11 guys who are great at stretching defenses and making their teammates better, but nobody who is good at putting it in the net. Hopefully De Rosario changes that like it did for you guys way back when!
A world-class FINISHER, at the very least. He hasn't looked deadly, I'm guessing it's psychological more than anything. Even Fat ronaldo was still a deadly finisher in Brazil for Corinthians the last few years. Oh and marquez is better off in the box trying to score or did y'all forget these gems? http://youtu.be/6pMlG023aMk http://youtu.be/Pap6mBNUxig
Watching the game, it's pretty obvious that Henry is trying. But he is suffering from loss of form, and he is not *ever* going to be a target striker.
Somehow we have to get someone up top that can finish. The longer Henry keeps playing like this the more it looks to me that we may be in trouble.
You guys keep jumping on Henry, but he is not playing any different than he did in the EPL or at Barca.. If anything he is playing more of a box to box guy then he did over there... Our distribution in the lower 1/3rd sucks and until our service into dangerous areas gets better we will continue to dominate teams.. as soon as everyone gets on the same page watch out.. this will be a very dangerous side!!
And Henry is part of that problem. He isn't making any runs into space to free up passing or dribbling lanes. He's just standing around.
Again that's what he's always done. He's not a runner. That's why he sucked at Juventus playing right wing. Arsenal stuck him up top and he shined.
Going strictly by the match that was just on national television, I saw hustle from the guy at times and I also saw the 'wtf' moments that people are harping on. There were several times that he back tracked to the half line and took the ball back, he chased and pressured the Philly defenders to make a choice with the ball on a turnover, he dribbled the ball upfield past 2-3 guys at a time ... .... only to douche it right to a Philly guy, find himself out of position, and make up for an error he made. I think that's the issue with him honestly. He's either making a good play because he screwed up or he's tanked because of his hustle and can't finish off the play. It appears that he's simply trying to hard and thusly screws up or gets lost at times. He fed a great ball through to Rodgers but just had it weighted a step too much. When he went along the far end of the pitch (going right on TV) he made 3 Philly defenders look like amatuers with his dribbling. The effort and skill is there, there's just something off. I honestly feel that when the team settles, he'll settle too. Now, what player that will be remains to be seen.
I don't want him to be a wing runner. I want him to move into space intelligently when the situation presents itself and fight hard when a goal scoring opportunity arises. I don't think that's too much to ask of a man of his pedigree. Our defense and midfield can move and protect the ball just fine. He needs to find his damn shooting boots. Again, I don't want him tracking back on defense. Backe has got his boys applying incredible pressure when the ball is turned over. Surely 10 players is enough to do this. Henry ain't a kid anymore. Save his legs for goal scoring opportunities. It appears to me that he isn't trying at all.
He's always been a guy that moved around the upper 3rd and went after the ball down to the half line. He did it at Arsenal and Barca. That's just how he plays. He's not a target guy, he's a mover. Now, that said he doesn't need to be running all over the place but he does need to move in order to be successful. He's always been an aggressive/fighter type on offense. That's how he plays. The moment you stick him up top and tell him to do nothing but score goals, it doesn't work. Ask Barca. Every player has a certain 'flow' to them. That's just his. You don't do what he did against Philly if you're not trying (ie - backtracking - the dribbling runs he made more than once - etc).
Just saw this, Henry now Achilles is cause of play: http://www.metrofanatic.com/story.jsp?ID=5667 Not sure if I am happy that this is cause or upset he is so fragile. tell me he is not going to be like Claudio or Tab?
"Little Things" Henry doesnt really have a good sound to it--we have to find another moniker for him if he starts to prove he is a player made of glass. Could "Petite Choses" be better?
You guys keep harking to Henry to find spots, but why do you think he throws his hands up so much... our guys aren't looking, and when they do he gives em a clap.. in all honesty once the whole chemistry comes together this is going to be awesome and fun to watch.. just give it some time.. there is still a whole lot of soccer to be played!!!
What's disturbing about that story is that it's obvious that Hans saw what we all saw - that Henry didn't have anything going and still he played him the whole game.
On at least two occasions, he had the ball, left side, top corner of the penalty area, and could dribble a defender to create a shot with his right foot. On both occasions he passed on the opportunity. If he's going to try and score, those were the moments. And at least once, he tried to play someone on a give and go and left it short. In other words, his passing sucks and he won't shoot when given a look. So why is he playing?
He doesn't want to be the ball hog, he wants to pass and make team better. Perhaps Backe told him to do this? He needs to step up and carry the team though. Sadly he might also just be injured too? I don't like this, MLS needs him playing well and healthy
Starting to get paranoid that he'll simply injure himself every other week this season then retire... And phoenix, Henry will score when he stops dedicating 100% of his efforts to "making the team better" (getting sick of this phrase being used as justification for not scoring), and dedicates a least a bit of energy towards finishing his chances.