Who is the better player: Mbappe or Henry?

Who is the better player?


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Completely disagree. Better, perhaps, but miles better is a grotesque exaggeration.
Technically much better too, way more complete. Mbappe is a pace merchant playing for dominant teams and scorign plenty, but similar to Haaland, without the team, hes not that exciting except for pace.
 
Theiry Henry. Hated the sight of him, he was an absolute beast of player and was always jealous of Arsenal having him.

Those were the days, eh!
 
Technically much better too, way more complete. Mbappe is a pace merchant playing for dominant teams and scorign plenty, but similar to Haaland, without the team, hes not that exciting except for pace.

'Without the team' works both ways.

Barcelona got better without Henry and France performed because of Zidane. When he wasn't around, France flopped.

Theiry Henry. Hated the sight of him, he was an absolute beast of player and was always jealous of Arsenal having him.

Those were the days, eh!

Yep. Nostalgia.
 
I think that’s mostly nostalgic nonsense. People love to claim that. But I think what really happened is that the way teams play has changed drastically and so have the skills we require from defenders. There’s nothing wrong with defenders today. They just play differently.
I would argue very differently. Teams are far more organised and fit today, you get less time on the ball and space, Individualism is harder today than back then.
Whilst refereeing has favoured attackers more recently I do think you have down played tactics and athleticism which has made attacking more difficult in the modern game . I don't believe defences were better then, teams just defend just as well (or better) through better organisation and tactics now imo.

A couple of you seem to think I said defences were better then, rather than defenders. Seriously, we’re talking about back when you had the likes of Puyol, Terry, Ferdinand, Vidic, Maldini, Nesta, Cannavaro, etc. Today you’d struggle to make a list of players that will make history like they did, and defenders before that. They were better at the defending part of the game, IMO. It makes sense, seeing as defenders are asked to play differently and have different skill sets today. Which, btw, also means they play with higher risk, which also affords more opportunities for strikers.

I don’t know, maybe I’m full of shit. Just my two cents. At any rate I think saying Mbappe’s a better player than Henry was is premature.
 
I mean Henry had plenty of poor big games in Europe too.

True to be fair.

Maybe it is nostalgia but just from watching the pair I can't see Mbappe as on Henry's level. Better stats but Henry had more to his game.
 
True to be fair.

Maybe it is nostalgia but just from watching the pair I can't see Mbappe as on Henry's level. Better stats but Henry had more to his game.
It’s sorta hard to know what Mbappé’s final level will be atm, it’s a low point for him, be interesting to look back in 5 years. The last year or so there have been some troubling signs and there’s no guarantee he will get back to his best, as with the similarities with Rashford and fame/lack of desire going to his head.

Henry definitely had more artistry and more elegance, not sure if that necessarily makes him a better player and Mbappé has achieved so much for France even if he retired tomorrow. But Henry was nicer and more entertaining to watch, you’d much quicker go to Henry’s highlights reel. Mbappé’s dribbling seems to be regressing, was more exciting to watch 4 years ago.
 
It’s sorta hard to know what Mbappé’s final level will be atm, it’s a low point for him, be interesting to look back in 5 years. The last year or so there have been some troubling signs and there’s no guarantee he will get back to his best, as with the similarities with Rashford and fame/lack of desire going to his head.

Henry definitely had more artistry and more elegance, not sure if that necessarily makes him a better player and Mbappé has achieved so much for France even if he retired tomorrow. But Henry was nicer and more entertaining to watch, you’d much quicker go to Henry’s highlights reel. Mbappé’s dribbling seems to be regressing, was more exciting to watch 4 years ago.
Using trophies/stats for the national teams is a bonkers way to compare players.
 
Using trophies/stats for the national teams is a bonkers way to compare players.
It’s not really just stats though, Henry never scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, or scored in multiple WC finals, or had a game like Mbappé against Argentina in 2018 in a World Cup for example.
 
It’s not really just stats though, Henry never scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, or scored in multiple WC finals, or had a game like Mbappé against Argentina in 2018 in a World Cup for example.
Yea he did well, but he was missing most of that match. Argentina was old, and they tired, and then he dominated with his speed, but before that he wasn't good. I think it needs the whole story, not just the last 3rd.
 
It’s not really just stats though, Henry never scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, or scored in multiple WC finals, or had a game like Mbappé against Argentina in 2018 in a World Cup for example.

He scored two penalties.

Mbappe looked a lot better in 2018 than he’s done on this side of 2020.

It’s weird how people have forgot how good Henry actually was, both from a physical and technical perspective. Mbappe tearing things up in a farmers league, for a team that has completely ruined the league, is a far fecking cry from what Henry was producing.
 
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Agreed. Hey Arsenal, interested in giving our player back and get a barely used Henry 2.0 in exchange?

Don’t be silly, David Bellion was Henry 2.0

Not sure what iteration Mbappe is, but he isn’t an upgrade
 
He scored two penalties.

Mbappe looked a lot better in 2018 than he’s done on this side of 2020.

It’s weird how people have forgot how good Henry actually was, both from a physical and technical perspective. Mbappe tearing things up in a farmers league, for a team that has completely ruined the league, is a far fecking cry from what Henry was producing.
Irrelevant. Henry never had a performance that good in a game that big, and that is just a fact. People tend to get misty eyed about Henry because he was operating at his peak in a (relatively weak) Premier League, but if you look at him outside the PL, in Italy, in the Champions League and for France, there's a lot of holes there. Mbappe has already done a lot of things that Henry never did, let's be real about this, current bad form notwithstanding.
 
Irrelevant. Henry never had a performance that good in a game that big, and that is just a fact. People tend to get misty eyed about Henry because he was operating at his peak in a (relatively weak) Premier League, but if you look at him outside the PL, in Italy, in the Champions League and for France, there's a lot of holes there. Mbappe has already done a lot of things that Henry never did, let's be real about this, current bad form notwithstanding.

Don’t be silly, the PL wasn’t anywhere near being relatively weak when Henry was at his peak.

Mbappe has been vastly overrated for years now.
 
Irrelevant. Henry never had a performance that good in a game that big, and that is just a fact. People tend to get misty eyed about Henry because he was operating at his peak in a (relatively weak) Premier League, but if you look at him outside the PL, in Italy, in the Champions League and for France, there's a lot of holes there. Mbappe has already done a lot of things that Henry never did, let's be real about this, current bad form notwithstanding.
And what people are saying is that Mbappe didn’t have a great performance.
France was abysmal the whole game, including Mbappe.
He had a 10 minutes patch which was out of this world
 
Irrelevant. Henry never had a performance that good in a game that big, and that is just a fact. People tend to get misty eyed about Henry because he was operating at his peak in a (relatively weak) Premier League, but if you look at him outside the PL, in Italy, in the Champions League and for France, there's a lot of holes there. Mbappe has already done a lot of things that Henry never did, let's be real about this, current bad form notwithstanding.

Like what exactly? Kleberson had some good world cup games as well. I don't think that's really a benchmark.
 
I understand he scored in a WC final but to say that surpasses what Henry did week in week out against top defences for a consistent period, shows the modern day fan.

Its all about 1 game.
 
Don’t be silly, the PL wasn’t anywhere near being relatively weak when Henry was at his peak.

Mbappe has been vastly overrated for years now.
How has he been overrated? He has almost as many goals in the CL and for France at age 25 as Henry managed in his whole career. His performances in the World Cup have been light years ahead of Henry's. Henry wasn't even the best player in the France team when he was playing. These are all facts.
 
How has he been overrated? He has almost as many goals in the CL and for France at age 25 as Henry managed in his whole career. His performances in the World Cup have been light years ahead of Henry's. Henry wasn't even the best player in the France team when he was playing. These are all facts.

He is 25 and only played in the French League. He is overrated.

You expect when players are rated that highly to have impact on the biggest of games, he doesn't.

Being the best player in the national team is one thing but to do it consistently over years against tough oppositions is a different thing.

James Rodriguez was one of the best players at a world cup, doesn't make him the same as Mbappe because of World cup performances.

International performances top off what you do at club level, Mbappe at club level has never been WC.
 
You can truncate the amount of time as much as you want, I never saw Henry put a team on his back in that way in any final, let alone a World Cup final. In fact, I struggle to remember Thierry Henry actually scoring a goal in any final whatsoever. You can try and diminish what Mbappe did in the 2022 WC final, but you have to remember that Mbappe scored brilliant goals in TWO World Cup finals.

I'm all ears if you have an example of Henry doing the same, cos like I said, I can't recall any goal he ever scored in ANY final for France or Arsenal or Juventus or Barcelona.
Henry faced a lot more competition than an old Argentina lineup.
 
Henry faced a lot more competition than an old Argentina lineup.
A weak response, with all due respect. Zidane, the actual best player for France in Henry's time, had no problem scoring in finals against this supposedly superior opposition.

I asked a question and you haven't answered it. I extend that question to all the other people saying that Mbappe is crap (for some strange reason): In what final, club or country, did Henry take over the game and put the team on his back? In fact, in what final did Henry even score a goal? I honestly can't remember any, and he played in quite a few for some very good sides.
 
What on Earth are you on about, Origi has 6 goals in total in the Champions League.

The fact that he scored goals against bigger teams like you talk about...

Out of all of Mbappe's goals, he has scored 7/49 in the Quarter final, 1 in a semi final. So dont come here telling me that he scores big goals.

Origi has goals in semi finals and finals, my point is it doesn't make him a WC player.

You need to carry your team in big games, that is what makes a WC player.. Mbappe never did that at PSG.
 
He was never anywhere close to the likes of Henry. Stayed at PSG for too long regardless, and it shows.
 
The fact that he scored goals against bigger teams like you talk about...

Out of all of Mbappe's goals, he has scored 7/49 in the Quarter final, 1 in a semi final. So dont come here telling me that he scores big goals.

Origi has goals in semi finals and finals, my point is it doesn't make him a WC player.

You need to carry your team in big games, that is what makes a WC player.. Mbappe never did that at PSG.
He scored a hat-trick at the Nou Camp against Barcelona, was the best player against Real Madrid too before his defence collapsed. He won a record player of the year awards in Ligue 1. There’s a reason Real Madrid chased him and he cost so much money.

Like what is the point in bringing up Origi here, bad faith argument, Kevin Phillips had on season where he outscored most of Henry’s PL seasons, doesn’t mean he was world class.

It’s funny you have some people saying Haaland, Mbappé, Rodri, Van Dijk etc are all completely overrated across multiple threads, nobody can touch the 2000s players apparently.
 
He scored a hat-trick at the Nou Camp against Barcelona, was the best player against Real Madrid too before his defence collapsed. He won a record player of the year awards in Ligue 1. There’s a reason Real Madrid chased him and he cost so much money.

Like what is the point in bringing up Origi here, bad faith argument, Kevin Phillips had on season where he outscored most of Henry’s PL seasons, doesn’t mean he was world class.

I think you will note that goal scorers and top players will score goals. You might be surprised about it but that is what happens, when you are a top player you will score goals.

Ligue 1 yes, that says it all. How many Ligue 1 clubs have reached a CL final in the last 20 years? That will tell you the level of football in that league.

Real Madrid also chased Hazard and paid more money for him, a player who was actually world class. Look how that turned out.

World class in your opinion is scoring loads of goals and stat paddling but in my opinion WC players impact big games, important Knock out games.

We can differ in our opinion, I just have a higher bar for World Class players.
 
I think you will note that goal scorers and top players will score goals. You might be surprised about it but that is what happens, when you are a top player you will score goals.

Ligue 1 yes, that says it all. How many Ligue 1 clubs have reached a CL final in the last 20 years? That will tell you the level of football in that league.

Real Madrid also chased Hazard and paid more money for him, a player who was actually world class. Look how that turned out.

World class in your opinion is scoring loads of goals and stat paddling but in my opinion WC players impact big games, important Knock out games.

We can differ in our opinion, I just have a higher bar for World Class players.
Yeah they impact the biggest tournament and game in the world, the World Cup! He has 8 goals in knockout games in the World Cup - Cristiano Ronaldo has 0 for example.

And Hazard was world class in the World Cup and for Chelsea before he joined Real Madrid. Still a fine player despite flopping, people will remember his good days.
 
Yeah they impact the biggest tournament and game in the world, the World Cup! He has 8 goals in knockout games in the World Cup - Cristiano Ronaldo has 0 for example.

And Hazard was world class in the World Cup and for Chelsea before he joined Real Madrid.
So Mbappe and Hazard are/were better than Ronaldo and Henry?
 
Yeah they impact the biggest tournament and game in the world, the World Cup! He has 8 goals in knockout games in the World Cup - Cristiano Ronaldo has 0 for example.

And Hazard was world class in the World Cup and for Chelsea before he joined Real Madrid. Still a fine player despite flopping, people will remember his good days.

I get it your threshold for a world class player is lower than mine.

I see you rate Ronaldo higher than Mbappe..

I dont need to discuss this further then.
 
So Mbappe and Hazard are/were better than Ronaldo and Henry?
No, you judge the body of the evidence and Ronaldo is probably the best player or at least top 2 players in the history of the Champions League, which Henry doesn’t have.

I think Henry was the best player in PL history so that’s worth something too. And had a good Euro 2000, okay in Europe, not that different to Mbappé.

I said in another post what I thought of the two, can’t be arsed repeating it again. But basically that it’s close enough between them, and I think at this point Henry might edge it but Mbappé could surpass by the end of his career.
I get it your threshold for a world class player is lower than mine.

I see you rate Ronaldo higher than Mbappe..

I dont need to discuss this further then.
Ronaldo was better than Mbappé. I see you rate Origi as better than Mbappé since you’re a fan of putting words into people’s mouths.
 
Yeah they impact the biggest tournament and game in the world, the World Cup! He has 8 goals in knockout games in the World Cup - Cristiano Ronaldo has 0 for example.

And Hazard was world class in the World Cup and for Chelsea before he joined Real Madrid. Still a fine player despite flopping, people will remember his good days.
It's the benefit of playing for a big nation. By your reckoning you can't be world class unless your country has a team capable of reaching knockouts of major tournaments. Puskas never scored in a World Cup. Does that make him worse then Lineker?

Mbappe is bobbins, a one dimensional footballer who is putting up acceptable numbers in a team that will always be putting up big numbers in their league
 
Henry definitely had more artistry and more elegance,

Henry had neither of these traits. He was a strong, powerful player whose game depended on raw pace.

Whenever things did not go his way, he would usually throw a strop or start cheating.

Henry was a far better footballer than Mbappe who is more a product of the social media, hype generation

Henry himself was himself a well publicised figure famous for the catchphrase 'va va voom'.

Believe me, Henry's generation had its fair share of overhyped stars: Ronaldinho, Adriano, Henry himself, Pablo Aimar. Good, but ultimately not great players.

All of whom continue to enjoy overstated stature years later due mainly to their publicity.
 
Henry had neither of these traits. He was a strong, powerful player whose game depended on raw pace.

Whenever things did not go his way, he would usually throw a strop or start cheating.



Henry himself was himself a well publicised figure famous for the catchphrase 'va va voom'.

Believe me, Henry's generation had its fair share of overhyped stars: Ronaldinho, Adriano, Henry himself, Pablo Aimar. Good, but ultimately not great players.

All of whom continue to enjoy overstated stature years later due mainly to their publicity.

Ronaldinho overhyped? I guess im not going to believe you :lol:
 
Henry had neither of these traits. He was a strong, powerful player whose game depended on raw pace.

Believe me, Henry's generation had its fair share of overhyped stars: Ronaldinho, Adriano, Henry himself, Pablo Aimar. Good, but ultimately not great players.
Henry didn't have artistry or elegance? The complete underrating of Ronaldinho? Really bad take.
 
This thread is mental :lol:
Right? I mean I wouldn't even put the two in the same sentence.

Henry is so far ahead of Mbappe.

The only thing Mbappe gets close to Henry is his bank balance nothing else.
 
Right? I mean I wouldn't even put the two in the same sentence.

Henry is so far ahead of Mbappe.

The only thing Mbappe gets close to Henry is his bank balance nothing else.

So many takes I don’t know what to do with… Henry was as much a result of media hype as Mbappe with the notable catch-phrase va-va-voom? :lol: he didn’t have flair and elegance? Ronaldinho was overhyped?!

Anybody making these claims cannot have been alive and watching football during that time. Mbappe was probably more spectacular at a younger age, but complete package wise Henry was way better. Maybe Mbappe can match or surpass him, but as it stands Mbappe seems like a speed merchant who will struggle more and more unless he develops his skill set.
 
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