Not as badly as how Mbappe is overrated by todays football fans.
Who is the better player: Mbappe or Henry?
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
Not as badly as how Mbappe is overrated by todays football fans.
I agreed to dismiss Ligue 1, so do you address the CL performances?
Why is Thierry his Dad?
Always love reading these type of threads right after one of the player being compared had just completed a great game. It's like some people can't think beyond said game. 
I'm not a "today" football fan, I've seen whole of Henry's career since his Monaco days and he didn't even stand head and shoulders ahead of his peers, let alone players from other generations.
CL is a piece of piss for forwards for the elite teams. Van Nistelrooy for Bayern or PSG would be scoring buckets
Henry was head and shoulders ahead of his peers for a while, at least among strikers. He was extremely consistent at a very high level, the comparison is far from ridiculous. The only issue is with people claiming that Henry is far above Mbappé when there is nothing to suggest that it's the case.
Attackers score more goals in this current period of football (2012-2022) then they did in the previous decade (2002-2011).
Elite strikers like RVN, R9, Shevchenko, Henry have all had their UEFA records destroyed. Does that mean that Lewa, Benz, Suarez, Mbappe are all better than the aforementioned legends?
Then I don't know what have you been watching really, or you just have bad judgement, not sure. Becase Henry was so obviously better and silkier player than Mbappe. Then again, I judge players by what I see, not going through numbers and statistics like many here do.
His performances are nowhere near Mbappe's.
In the 2006 WC, Henry scored against Brazil in the quarters, but Zidane was the clear spearhead of that performance and was by far the best player on the pitch. Henry then proceeded to have subpar games vs Portugal and Italy afterwards.
He didn't help France at all in '98. It's an insult to compare the two at international level.
I don't think Mbappe is GOAT level, because that's Pele, Messi and Maradona to me and I don't think Mbappe has that innate talent.
But he can be on that next tier provided he steers clear of injuries.
Honestly the Ligue 1 argument against Mbappe is so silly, because Mbappe has routinely destroyed the best teams in the CL. He's done so more than Henry did in his entire career and Mbappe is only 23.
I'm not speaking about numbers either, just about general perception. I don't remember Henry was ever even close to how Zidane, Ronaldo, and later Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and to some extent even Kaka were seen.
He was obviously a great player, I'm not denying that, but he never seemed destined to become part of select elite group of players. Mbappe is going to get there quite surely if injuries don't stop him.
For now I've put Henry. I think they're actually quite similar players.
Mbappe is better at a younger age, but in his prime Henry had better finishing and could score screamers from distance...... and did it week in, week out in a top league.
Mbappe still has time to improve though, I think at the end of his career he might put up a serious argument.
Mbappe is better at a younger age, but in his prime Henry had better finishing and could score screamers from distance...... and did it week in, week out in a top league.
Mbappe still has time to improve though, I think at the end of his career he might put up a serious argument.
R9 is different, because his knee injuries affect his later years and he was a diminished player(despite still being world class). So I wouldn't include him in this comparison(at his best, he's still a level above everyone involved in the conversation).
But as for everyone else involved, I mean you can argue for the modern strikers. Benzema just had arguably the greatest CL campaign of all-time. It's not insulting if people think he's better than RVN, Shevchenko or Henry.
His CL record is good, there's no denying it.
But like I said, in 5-10 years when everything he's done is totted up, I'm sure it won't even be a debate anymore.
That only shows how before world had much richer pool of great players and how today it's much more about system and less about individual stars. Henry would be around the very top in todays football.
That's fair but his current pace is also around the top in the current generation, from memory it's better than Salah"s. Personally I don't think that there is any mitigating factors when it comes to Haaland or Mbappé, they are as good as their numbers, they are comparable to their best predecessors and in many cases far better. The only ones that are still clearly above them are Lewandowski, Messi and Ronaldo.
People talk as the PL in Henry's era as this weird pinnacle of football when it was actually fighting for second spot in UEFA rankings with Serie A and only won the CL once when Milan choked. I'm sure the nostalgia goggles (especially when many here were on their formative years at this time) are just a strong as the recency bias.
Sure enough, can't disagree too much. Not an exact science. But that would at the very least put Mbappe at "Top Elite" level next to Cruyff, Platini, Beckenbauer, Zidane, Puskas etc. All a level above Henry. And not sure were to fit in Cristiano Ronaldo then if he isn't a part of the GOATS.
Do you think the thread is about Mbappè’s last game or a clear and formulating body of work showing obvious exponential growth to the point it has to be discussed?Always love reading these type of threads right after one of the player being compared had just completed a great game. It's like some people can't think beyond said game.
Henry but time will tell, if Mbappe moves to a competitive league and is consistent he'll sway the argument over time.
On the Caf you're as good as your last game usually.
Which is why this thread never gets bumped or created on a random Tuesday.
What the hell?
I actually think it's closer than this thread seems to think, but what a bizarre thing to say.It's stupid. Ligue 1 is shit because PSG are so overpowered like Bayern are in Bundesliga. I do get the argument of marking down some of the numbers he's putting up there while playing for PSG.
But at the same time, he was massively influential in winning a title against the same PSG and also taking Monaco into the CL Semi Finals as underdogs.
What the hell?
This performance against Nesta and Cannavaro was sensational. One of my earliest footballing memories.
Anyone saying it's no contest either way is talking rubbish. It is literally impossible to be miles better than Thierry Henry.
I think it's quite even, particularly looking at them at the same age/stage of career. Mbappe will need to maintain this level for several more seasons to be an outright winner.
I think it's quite even, particularly looking at them at the same age/stage of career. Mbappe will need to maintain this level for several more seasons to be an outright winner.
Also shows why comparing attacking stats between eras is exceptionally difficult. Even if you ignore the fact that he's playing against two of the world's greatest ever defenders, the way the game is played, and the fact that they're able to hack him as much as they are, shows how important historical context is to these debates.
Unless you're Lionel Messi
I'm a huge fan of Henry's but I would lean towards Mbappe. Henry was exceptional domestically but Mbappe's goalscoring records on the international stage are more impressive. As long as he avoids a massive injury, Mbappe will end up with more goals in the Champions League and for France.
Even then, I think 'miles better' is a bit OTT. Messi has been unreal of course, but the gap between the guys right at the top is small.
I have a hard time figuring something out. How can you claim at the same time :
- Henry did it in the PL, best league on earth, elite week in and week out, legend in england, best PL player evenr, Ligue 1 is shit and
- Henry didn't consistently have such a huge impact in the CL because Arsenal wasn't good enough.
How comes a team that managed to go an entire PL season unbeaten wasn't strong enough to consistently perfom on the european stage? Maybe because... i don't know, the PL he used to play in wasn't that amazing?
- Henry did it in the PL, best league on earth, elite week in and week out, legend in england, best PL player evenr, Ligue 1 is shit and
- Henry didn't consistently have such a huge impact in the CL because Arsenal wasn't good enough.
How comes a team that managed to go an entire PL season unbeaten wasn't strong enough to consistently perfom on the european stage? Maybe because... i don't know, the PL he used to play in wasn't that amazing?
There is indeed something missing. Arsenal were a fairly stacked team, a bit like City today but they lacked that player that can reach that special level on a special occasion, there are players that have that special ability and Henry wasn't one of them, he was extremely consistent but he wasn't the type to raise his game which is extremely important in the CL. Henry would never do what Neymar did to PSG during the remontada, he wouldn't do what Ronaldo did to Juventus either but I don't know if any of these players have maintained Henry's floor for an entire season.
I'd go with Mbappe. Henry was brillant but if we're talking about his prime from, say, 2000 to 2006, then Zidane and Ronaldinho are clearly ahead, IMO. But there's no tier above Mbappe if you ask me. I don't think he's the best in the world (yet) but regardless of who you see there, he's not that far behind. Now he's not competing with prime CR7 or even prime Messi but then again, Henry wasn't either. In his current form, I have him slightly below the best version of CR7 and that player was definitely better than Henry.
Mbappe will have the better career goals and stats wise. His peak will never reach Henry's peak though because he doesn't have the variety of skills that made Henry special.
Feels a bit early for this, no?
I'm sure it's been pointed out, but as much as people are talking about recency bias being in favour of Mbappe, there's a serious Premier League and nostalgia bias when people talk about Henry. Let's not pretend most of us watch Ligue 1 week in week out to have an adequately informed opinion on Mbappe, and brushing aside his League accomplishments just because you haven't seen it with your own eyes is lazy in the the way a lot of people brushed aside what Haaland did before he joined City. It is obvious these two will succeed in any league.
Anyway, I preferred watching Henry and think he is the more skillful player, but Mbappe will have the better career/numbers/accomplishments. He probably already has more memorable individual moments on the world stage. Both are fantastic. Comparison is the death of joy etc.
I'm sure it's been pointed out, but as much as people are talking about recency bias being in favour of Mbappe, there's a serious Premier League and nostalgia bias when people talk about Henry. Let's not pretend most of us watch Ligue 1 week in week out to have an adequately informed opinion on Mbappe, and brushing aside his League accomplishments just because you haven't seen it with your own eyes is lazy in the the way a lot of people brushed aside what Haaland did before he joined City. It is obvious these two will succeed in any league.
Anyway, I preferred watching Henry and think he is the more skillful player, but Mbappe will have the better career/numbers/accomplishments. He probably already has more memorable individual moments on the world stage. Both are fantastic. Comparison is the death of joy etc.
So you definitely have prime Henry above prime Robben? Personally I have Robben above Henry despite a probable lack of variety, Robben was the more lethal player against top opposition.
Well Ronaldo at a young age and through his peak is basically in terms of ability and skill was pretty much the greatest a footballer has ever been. Even the young peak Messi would do well to rival that phase. And the fact he played in Serie A at the time that was filled with great defenders and defensive setups which got take to the cleaners by him. If Mbappe had that much talent and freak of a nature then yeah. And heck even Ronaldo gets slated for not winning things at club level even if it was due to injuries. Mbappe doesn't have injury issues like that so bit less of an excuse.
I much prefer Henry to Robben and I was a Robben fan.
I can understand why people may pick Mbappe as there's not a massive gulf in class between the two but definitely Henry was the better player.
I think some posters may be remembering Henry from his time at Barcelona, where he was still a top class player but not near the level he was at Arsenal. He was a genius at Arsenal, absolutely electric, powerful, great feet, could finish and excellent linking up the play.
I think some posters may be remembering Henry from his time at Barcelona, where he was still a top class player but not near the level he was at Arsenal. He was a genius at Arsenal, absolutely electric, powerful, great feet, could finish and excellent linking up the play.