Completely disagree with you on both of those statements. When Nadal wasn't playing Koeman was the sole centre back in Cruyff's Dream Team - this wasn't the 'centre of a back three' in a traditional sense with three centre backs. The back three included the fullbacks, such as Sergi or Ferrer.
Please tell me how Facchetti / Nesta / Cafu in a standard 4-3-3 are providing Koeman with less protection that these line ups:
In terms of Henry he moved to Barcelona at 30 years old after a poor final season at Arsenal and clearly past his peak as a player - particularly given he was an explosive player who utilised his pace and acceleration. His first season under Rijkaard (NOT Guardiola) was under-whelming and supported some peoples view at the time that he was finished at the top level.
Enter Guardiola: "In his second season at Barça, Henry rediscovered his youth, rolling back the years and forming an integral part of a lethal trident with Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. A standout two-goal display in the Santiago Bernabeu is perhaps best remembered, after the forward tore Sergio Ramos to shreds and proved that he still had pace to burn. But there were several other noteworthy performances in which his class proved the difference. The Frenchman’s part in their historic treble can sometimes be underappreciated by international observers. Ask any Catalan who watched the Blaugrana closely over the course of the season, however, and they will tell you just how good he was."
In terms of performance Henry scored 26 goals and 10 assists for Guardiola as he helped the team win a historic Treble - that's as a 31 year old past his peak player who was playing in the MLS in 12 months time... really underwhelming!
Outside of performances Henry has been clear that he idolises and looks up to Pep - when he took the Monoco job he states that Pep is the "reference for him" as a manager and that he wants to emulate his approach to football. He's also spoken on Sky and stated Guardiola taught him “how to play football again at 30 years old... I suddenly saw the game in a different way - understanding space, understanding staying in your position, understanding you have to give 100 per cent at everything. His attention to detail is second to none.”
Really have no idea how you can twist or reduce successful achievements on the pitch and clear idolisation towards him as a manager as Henry "not really liking to play in Pep's side". Literally the only thing that happened is that Guardiola has his precise and scientific way of playing football which caused Henry to need to adapt his game to be more positionally responsible - that's the same process Guardiola goes through with most of his players.
