Reuters Soccer Blog

from Left field:

Va-va-voom. Vintage Henry scores on Arsenal return.

The clock said 68 minutes, and no one at the Emirates Stadium in north London was looking at the action on the pitch as the fourth official held aloft his lit-up board to signal the re-introduction of Thierry Henry to English football.

Ten minutes later and he'd scored the game's eventual winner. Comebacks don't get this good this often.

14 to replace 15 shone the bright numbers before the goal, but alas Henry's former number has since been taken by young English talent Theo Walcott, who idolises the French great.

Now, for six weeks and six weeks only after which he will return to the United States with the New York Red Bulls, Henry can be seen wearing an Arsenal shirt with the number 12, the same as his France days during which he won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship.

The only numbers Arsenal fans will care about are 228, 229 and who knows, possible even into the 230s.

With a trademark movement of his right boot, Henry had added to his record Arsenal tally of 226 having watched his new teammates spurn chance after chance against Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup.

Arsenal fans out there, does this worry you? Would you like to see Arsene Wenger bring in another striker in the January transfer window given the lack of goals?

Thierry Henry interview

Former Arsenal, Barcelona and France striker Thierry Henry is loving life in the United States and wants to see New York Red Bulls develop identity as an attractive passing football team but he also hankers after an eventual return to Arsenal in some role in the future.

The following is the full transcript of interview by Simon Evans with Henry after pre-season training with the Red Bulls in Fort Lauderdale this weekend. Shortly before the interview began at the team’s hotel Henry was approached by an American guest who recognised him from a documentary film about racism in sport but who then asked the Frenchman for his name.

Q: It must be quite nice to be asked for your name like that. I can’t imagine too many people wouldn’t recognise you back home.

It’s nice…I really don’t mind, I mkind of like not being recognized. The other day I had a day off and had breakfast in the hotel and went later to see a movie just like any normal person and it was just great. It’s refreshing.

Q: The was a view when you decided to leave Barcelona for the Red Bulls that you had headed to the MLS ‘retirement home’ Do you get a bit of that from people?

Whenever I go back, people kind of like, as you say, put MLS down. But you see when the European teams come in for pre-season and I know it is only pre-season but maybe back in time they would have won easily and now you look at the results, quite often the European teams lose or struggle to win. I know they are in pre-season and they aren’t going to go (full out) but it speaks volumes.