UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Thierry Henry’s first practice with his new Red Bulls teammates on Friday morning created quite the buzz. With the media contingent on hand nearly triple of a typical practice session, and fans camped out hoping to catch a glimpse and perhaps an autograph with the star, the atmosphere was electric.
Coming off a two-week break, Henry trained mainly with the reserves, including full participation in all the team’s drills. After a series of warm-ups and sprints, Henry, along with Juan Pablo Angel, played in a five-vs.-two keep-away game, showing deft touch and quick decision-making ability. He joked with teammates Mike Petke and Joel Lindpere and looked at ease. Henry even laughed when Lindpere tried pegging a teammate with the ball.
As the first team trained for Saturday’s match against Columbus, Henry scrimmaged with several of the second-team players. Taking a bit of a back seat in the training session, Henry said this was his first training session in three weeks, but head coach Hans Backe revealed it was actually closer to two weeks, as his new signing had five training sessions prior to joining the team.
Backe didn’t get to see too much of Henry as he oversaw the first team’s training session, but his staff communicated with him about his new marquee player.
“What I've heard, of course [was good]," Backe said. "Those kind of players [like Henry], just the touch on the ball is different class."
Henry told the gathered media that he was “really happy with the facilities. The pitch is great.” At the start of the season, Backe commented that the team’s facilities needed an upgrade for a player of Henry's caliber. The coach said that he had spoken with Henry about the facilities and the pitch perhaps not being quite the same standard as what he was used to in Barcelona or Arsenal.
“He was surprised at the [quality] of the pitch,” Backe said.
On Saturday morning, Henry will travel to Columbus but will not be part of the gameday squad. Backe said that the plan is to get his forward 45 minutes in the upcoming New York Football Challenge matches against Tottenham and Manchester City, both next week. While Henry will watch his new teammates on Saturday at Crew Stadium, he wanted to be much closer to the action.
“I wanted to [be available],” Henry said of the Columbus game. He revealed that he hopes to play away in Houston in a couple weeks.
The impact of Henry is felt on and off the field, but also with his teammates.
“He’s a fantastic player, his record speaks for itself,” Macoumba Kandji told MLSsoccer.com. “You can tell this guy is class.”
Kandji said the signing of Henry should trickle down to the team’s play on the field, with other teams focusing on the Angel-Henry strike duo. According to Kandji, this would free up room for players like Kandji and Lindpere to get more cracks at goal. And Angel said the impact will be seen in practice, with other players elevating their training habits.
"Arguably one of the best players of our generation,” Angel said. “His pedigree is second to none."
Kristian R. Dyer can be reached for comment at KristianRDyer@yahoo.com and followed at twitter.com/kdyer1012
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