Feature

Shearer: Henry is my dream strike partner

19 Feb 2019

PL's all-time record goalscorer picks his top three foreign strikers and explains why they have been unique

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When judging the best of the many brilliant forwards to have come from abroad to the Premier League, who better to ask than the competition's all-time top goalscorer, Alan Shearer?

The Premier League Champion gave us his top three overseas strikers and explained why they made the grade.

Thierry Henry

Shearer struck up numerous formidable strike partnerships during his distinguished playing career.

The SAS pairing with Chris Sutton at Blackburn Rovers garnered 49 goals, while he dovetailed impressively with Michael Owen and Teddy Sheringham for England.

But if he could have partnered anyone it would have been Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

Top-five scorer

Henry remains fifth in the all-time standings for Premier League goals, with 175 in 257 top-flight appearances for the Gunners. But Shearer says the Frenchman boasted an enviable array of attributes that delivered more than goals alone.

Indeed, Henry holds the record for the number of PL assists in a season, with 20 in 2002/03.

"Skill, grace, goals, touch, technique, pace, strength; Thierry had all of that," says Shearer. "Thierry could cut in off the left or in off the right, or if you wanted him to play centre-forward he could do that.

"He had 74 assists as well, so as well as banging goals in he could create them too. He was absolutely outstanding.

"If I could have played alongside anyone it would be him, because he was also an assist machine. 

"He was superb at gliding past people, and from a purely selfish point of view he would have set me up for a lot of goals."

Dominant force

The Frenchman won four Premier League Golden Boots, lifted the Premier League Trophy twice and claimed the FA Cup on three occasions.

He also won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 during his glittering career.

"You knew that if you were going to be successful against that Arsenal team you had to stop Thierry Henry," says Shearer. "He was their guy."

Henry scored a number of spectacular goals but his strike against Manchester United in October 2000 is the one that stands out for Shearer.

"The one where he flicked it up on the edge of the box against Man Utd and volleyed it into the top corner," Shearer says. "An incredible goal.

"That encapsulated him in one hit: the touch, the technique to get over it, to hit the target and score the goal. That summed him up."

Also in this series

Part 1: Shearer: Drogba did everything for Chelsea
Part 3: Shearer: Lethal Aguero the best of all-time

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25 Nov 2024

23 years ago: Henry's dramatic late double sinks Man Utd

Flashback to 2001, when Thierry Henry pounced on two Fabien Barthez mistakes to give Arsenal a 3-1 win over rivals Man Utd

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