Thierry Henry: I can assure you I came here to win

French legend Thierry Henry was officially announced as New York’s newest signing at Red Bull Arena today.  The announcement of his 4.5 year designated player contract was surrounded by much fanfare, and for good reason.  Henry is a legend for Arsenal and won the Treble at Barcelona, while leading his native France in goals scored at 51.  His trophy case is about ten times bigger than the club he is joining, and includes the World Cup, the UEFA Champions League trophy, and the European Championship.

Joining Henry at the press conference (which received slightly more coverage than your average US Open Cup post-game presser) were Erik Soler, Hans Backe, and Erik Stover of Red Bull New York, Don Garber (commissioner of MLS) and Dietmar Beiersdorfer, head honcho of Red Bull’s global soccer division.

Two things are immediately worth mentioning.  The first is that Thierry Henry has an excellent attitude.  Although this event came down to talk and talk only, he has a positive attitude and seems committed to the team and aware that he will actually have to work hard to succeed here.  The second is that for what is likely the first time in franchise history, there is not an idiot in a high level position here.  Everyone involved with the front office (at last at the highest level) is competent and intelligent.  Maybe it should have been like that from day one, but it wasn’t, so it is nice to have people running the team who know what they are doing.

Henry exudes confidence, and although he didn’t promise immediate trophies he was extremely positive:  “Everybody knows that I love this city, but I can assure you I came here to win.  That is the most important thing, and I am a competitor.”

Head coach Hans Backe was highly complimentary of his new signing, and holds him in very high regard:

“We have signed an outstanding football player.  I would rank him in the top 10 EVER in the Premiership as a striker.  Outstanding personality, outstanding character, it will lift our game and lift our players definitely.  I can assure you it is a hungry Henry who is coming.  He signed for 4.5 years and he is very hungry to get the first championship for Red Bulls.” – RBNY Head Coach Hans Backe.

Still, despite his stardom it is clear Henry is not expected to carry the team on his back.

“Football is not about one individual; it is about the whole environment.  I think we have a very different environment at this club now; we have an arena, an organization, an ownership group that really works hard.  I think we are ready for a big-personality soccer player and ready for him to be integrated into our team.  You can never win in football on your own.” – RBNY Sporting Director and General Managerr Erik Soler.

Backe was also realistic about his expectations of Henry, reminding us that soccer is indeed a team sport:

“I don’t think any player can dominate a league like that.  As a striker, he needs his teammates to go for the final passes.  He can do things in the final third in a way but the build up has to be other players doing the work.” – RBNY Head Coach Hans Backe.

Henry will have to fit into an already solid MLS team.  Currently 2^nd in the East, Metro is miles ahead of where it was last year.  In order to succeed, Henry will have to link up well with current franchise leading goal scorer Juan Pablo Angel.

Luckily, Hans Backe seems confident they will play well together: “Two of the best football players you can talk about.  With that understanding, the knowledge of the game, there is no problem to play them together.  I have no problem to play those two strikers together.”

The team is also a getting a bit top-heavy, with 8 strikers on the squad.  Backe will likely address this by attempting to trade some of the current strikers and sliding Mac Kandji to outside midfield.

For all of its forwards, New York has struggled to create chances in recent games, which could be addressed by another DP signing in this transfer window.

“At the moment we are working on some alternatives, and we are hoping to close something down.  Things change but we work hard and surely hope we can bring in a 3^rd DP this window.” – Erik Soler.

According to Backe, it is likely going to be more of a central midfielder that is signed this summer, with the coaching staff and front office looking to add a creative, attacking midfielder for next season.  That would seem to rule out Freddie Ljunberg, who has been rumored to be joining the club from Seattle.

Expectations for the new signing seem pretty realistic.  Although Henry will certainly boost interest in the team and league, no one is expecting him to deliver instant championships and legions of new fans.  He is just another step in building a strong, winning club and growing recognition for the league and team within the market.

“Generally in sports what you need to have is success on the field.  You can have a big press conference and do marketing stunts, but in the end when a player is going to be here many years, the most important thing is to get him integrated on the team and use his qualities along with the qualities we have on the team and make sure everybody works together.  If we have success on the field I’m sure we will have success in all the other areas as well.” – Soler on growing the team.

Erik Stover, the teams managing director, had similar thoughts.  Stover has been here longer than Soler and Backe, and has been highly involved in signing Henry.

“We don’t expect one player to continuously sell out this building every day, we expect the team to get better and change peoples point of view about this team and about our club.  We don’t look at this as a marketing gimmick, we look at this as another good player we’re putting on this team.”- RBNY Managing Director Erik Stover.

Henry, who has played against MLS teams on tour with Barcelona, knows the level of play in the league and doesn’t expect a cakewalk.  The tempered yet optimistic views that he has and shares with the front office are relieving.  No is claiming Red Bull is now a “super club” or expecting Henry to score 50 goals in his first 10 games.  He is undoubtedly one of the biggest signings in this team's, and possibly the leagues, history, but Henry knows he needs to work and everyone else sees him as an important piece in a larger puzzle.