When arguably the greatest striker in Premier League history wades in to settle a growing debate, people listen.
Which is why, when Thierry Henry, scorer of 175 Premier League goals during his time at Arsenal, offered to compare Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, his comments quickly went viral. When asked, as part of US channel CBS's Champions League coverage, whether Spurs star Kane would have been a better fit for Manchester City, the Frenchman was unequivocal.
"Yes. I would say that, if I had to build a team to win," he told fellow pundit Jamie Carragher. "For example, I thought Man City were going to go for Harry Kane. We all know they wanted him but I thought they were going to come back in. I thought he is the typical striker for city. I think it would've been better."
Thierry Henry on the differences between Kane & Haaland! #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/ln44ha7ECiFebruary 14, 2023
When asked to elaborate, Henry compared his own experiences as a Premier League player to highlight why Kane is performing better than the Norway intentional right now.
"Harry became complete, he became an all-around player and this is what I like about him," he continued. "We all know what he can do and all know what he can do in the box, but what he does outside of the box now for his team this is something that I have to respect massively. He became for me, over the last two, three years, a complete striker.
"There was one piece of advice that Arsene Wenger gave me that stayed with me, he said: 'What can you do when your team is not feeding you?'" Henry then went on to explain that, when playing with Dennis Bergkamp for the Gunners, he knew he could make any run he liked as the Dutchman had the vision to find him.
If, however, he was playing with Robert Pires, he would need to adapt his game to drop closer to his compatriot in order to facilitate the one-twos he liked to play. With Freddie Ljungberg, on the other hand, he needed to run the channels as the Swede was better suited to plying vertical passes. Henry stated that Kane has the ability to bring the best out of his team-mates, as he once tried to do.
"We all know when Kevin De Bruyne has the ball he can find him," said Henry, in reference to City star Haaland, who has scored 25 goals in the Premier League already this season. Henry feels that Haaland needs to adapt his game to help the other players in the squad, such as Bernardo Silva, play to their own strengths.
"I think he did stop what they were about," Henry concluded. "They had a certain way of playing. I think they are more predictable."
