Thierry-fic
It did not seem, quite as inevitable when he smacked in his first against Southampton perhaps as it has in the last two seasons. Thierry Henry finally got the record and my did he get it or what. A special player indeed, not a just a scorer of many goals but of many beautiful goals. Take Thierry Henry away from the premiership's history and I am sure you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who has epitomised the entertainment value of the package. But then again one could argue that Arsene Wenger could have found one to capture the imagination of not just the Highbury faithful but the football standard.
I remember the first time I saw him, it was at the World Cup in 1998. I have to admit that I knew very little about french football, bar the omission of Nicolas Anelka from the final french selection and of course Patrick Vieira and Manu Petit. He had pace, imagination but his contribution was largely overshadowed by the mercurial Zinedine Zidane, who was simply larger than life. But I did not fail to note that he was the top goal scorer at that tournament. And next thing he was off to Juve.
We lost Anelka the following season and this winger as i had seen him was introduced to Highbury. I didnt really think he was that bad a goal scorer to be honest after all, his three goals had helped France get through to the final of the '98 WC which they eventually won. But when he skyed every other delivery, one kept wondering. But I am one of the school that had grown to believe in the nous of Arsene Wenger and was sure that the gaffer could see something in this lad. Then it happened against Southampton, a pass from Tony Adams, back to a defender, held him off, lost his balance and curled one in. It was what was to become the hallmark of Thierry Henry, not simply to score but to score in a manner we all would remember. After failing to get a goal in virtually half the season, the second proved the quality assured upon him as he banged in 26 goals.
From then on the 20+ contributions became regular, most with skill, guile, tenacity, arrogance. A special player, a genius, an entertainer, artist extraordinaire. The sort of player where when he got the ball, our concentration, was immediately altered up a notch and a half more than we would for others. And more often than not he did what we would not have dared not only to do, but to imagine as well. And none the one that equalled with Wrighty was certainly up there among his many goals of pure imagination. Recieving a long pass, controlling it with one touch, a pirouette and then with the outside of the right boot, curling it into the net...
Now that's entertainment!
I remember the first time I saw him, it was at the World Cup in 1998. I have to admit that I knew very little about french football, bar the omission of Nicolas Anelka from the final french selection and of course Patrick Vieira and Manu Petit. He had pace, imagination but his contribution was largely overshadowed by the mercurial Zinedine Zidane, who was simply larger than life. But I did not fail to note that he was the top goal scorer at that tournament. And next thing he was off to Juve.
We lost Anelka the following season and this winger as i had seen him was introduced to Highbury. I didnt really think he was that bad a goal scorer to be honest after all, his three goals had helped France get through to the final of the '98 WC which they eventually won. But when he skyed every other delivery, one kept wondering. But I am one of the school that had grown to believe in the nous of Arsene Wenger and was sure that the gaffer could see something in this lad. Then it happened against Southampton, a pass from Tony Adams, back to a defender, held him off, lost his balance and curled one in. It was what was to become the hallmark of Thierry Henry, not simply to score but to score in a manner we all would remember. After failing to get a goal in virtually half the season, the second proved the quality assured upon him as he banged in 26 goals.
From then on the 20+ contributions became regular, most with skill, guile, tenacity, arrogance. A special player, a genius, an entertainer, artist extraordinaire. The sort of player where when he got the ball, our concentration, was immediately altered up a notch and a half more than we would for others. And more often than not he did what we would not have dared not only to do, but to imagine as well. And none the one that equalled with Wrighty was certainly up there among his many goals of pure imagination. Recieving a long pass, controlling it with one touch, a pirouette and then with the outside of the right boot, curling it into the net...
Now that's entertainment!
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