Who is the better player: Mbappe or Henry?

[Stacks]

Henry scared me more than playing against Mbappe has it would. Henry had everything, he'd have bagged tonnes of goals in Ligue 1 right now. Talent wise there's no comparison, Mbappe will never have the levels Henry did, it's just a question of whether he can make the use of what he does have and be effective for a long time. Then ask the question.

Forget stats or who scored more for France etc, do people not use the eye test anymore and just discuss using G/A stats? If you watched both of them play regularly, then there is no way you can say Mbappe. Henry was different gravy, absolutely unstoppable in his pomp.

Mbappe seems to flatter to deceive when he played vs Man Utd and gets outshone by Rashford. There was even questions if they were far apart, allbeti by deluded Caftards but there would never be such conversations with Henry

 

[Stadjer]

Forget stats or who scored more for France etc, do people not use the eye test anymore and just discuss using G/A stats? If you watched both of them play regularly, then there is no way you can say Mbappe. Henry was different gravy, absolutely unstoppable in his pomp.

Mbappe looks pretty unstoppable at times too.

 

[arthurka]

Mbappe easy, Henry is going on 50 pace gone..

 

[Stacks]

Have y'all forgot or something?

It is very possible I dont watch enough of Mbappe's wonder goals in Ligue 1 so I'm not given him his due credit. But come on now.


Condensed version.
I've seen nothing.Mbappe that makes me think they are the same

 

[Sayros]

Mbappe seems to flatter to deceive when he played vs Man Utd and gets outshone by Rashford. There was even questions if they were far apart, allbeti by deluded Caftards but there would never be such conversations with Henry

Henry wouldn't have even been in that conversation at Mbappe's age when that game happened. Who cares how he played against Man United that one game (since he scored and won in the other), it's his overall body of work that matters, every player's had a poor game here and there.

 

[Stacks]

Henry wouldn't have even been in that conversation at Mbappe's age when that game happened. Who cares how he played against Man United that one game (since he scored and won in the other), it's his overall body of work that matters, every player's had a poor game here and there.

Henry scored 26 goals at 23 and 8 in the champions league. he was better than Rashford

 

[Kag]

Henry had way more to his game in comparison to Mbappe right now.

This is one to look back at in years to come. As it stands, Henry has the pedigree. Mbappe is still on his way.

 

[Red Rash]

Right now it's Henry, Mbappe is better at the same age but once Henry moved to Arsenal he was insanely good.

If Mbappe moves to a bigger league and still keeps or improves his level then we can talk

 

[Oly Francis]

Henry scored 26 goals at 23 and 8 in the champions league. he was better than Rashford

You do realize that Mbappé was 20 when PSG lost to United in the final stage of the CL right?

Forget stats or who scored more for France etc, do people not use the eye test anymore and just discuss using G/A stats? If you watched both of them play regularly, then there is no way you can say Mbappe. Henry was different gravy, absolutely unstoppable in his pomp.

That's the issue I have with a lot of posters here, the total exageration. I'll state one more time that Henry was an amazing player, but he was far from unstoppable, and his record in the CL or with France clearly shows that wasn't the case. He might have looked unstoppable in the PL, but he was very stoppable even at his prime when he had a total drought in the 2nd group of the CL in 2003 (1 goal in the last 5 games of the group and he played all the minutes), or against Chelsea in 2004. He was also very stoppable by Senegal in 2002, then he had the great idea of collecting a red card against Uruguay (after of course not scoring in the 25mn he spent on the pitch).

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Champions league knockout stage :
- Henry : 11 goals in 32 games
- Mbappe : 7 goals in 12 games
Source : https://www.transfermarkt.co/most-g...ut-stage-since-2000/index/galerie/1348?page=1

World cup :
- Henry : 6 goals in 17 games
- Mbappe : 9 goals in 11 games

Henry was a great player and he helped a lot for a world cup, an euro for France and a champions league for Barca. But he never was the main guy in theses tournaments.

1998 world cup team of the tournament has 4 french players and Henry is not one of them.
It was the same for the euro 2000. 4 french players in the team of the tournament but not Henry

And on this world cup, Mbappe does it as the absolut star of the french national team being defended by at least 2 guys every times he touch the ball.

If Mbappe keeps going like that, it will look like the Rashford / Mbappe thread in a few years

Mbappe hasn’t been Frances best player, Griezmann has.

1998 & 2000 were mostly 442 tournament selections. Henry wasn’t a good fit.

I mean, I’m more than willing to accept that Mbappe may prove to be the best French player of all time, but we don’t need to twist history to make him that.

The kid is phenomenal. But we shouldn’t cherry pick across eras. Henry would absolutely destroy modern day defences in exactly the same way. His best years came when France were not the outright best team on the planet. That’s not a stick to beat him with.

To accept that Mbappe is better than Henry you probably have to accept that Ronaldo (not Cristiano) was better than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. You can’t just remove longevity and their best years to make a call.

In a one off game against a team in a Champions League final, if I get to pick one of the 5 mentioned to play for the opposition, at their absolute single day peak… I’d choose to face Mbappe, then Henry, then Cristiano, then Ronaldo, then Messi.

With that said… I do actually think that Mbappe will be the best French player of all time, and eclipse Henry. He’ll absolutely go last Ronaldo in terms of career and longevity. But I don’t think he will ever surpass Ronaldo, Messi and Cristiano as single season unplayable footballers.

 

[NWRed]

Henry would absolutely destroy modern day defences in exactly the same way.

I really don't think he would. The PL in those days was nothing like the PL now in terms of the quality of players, the organisational abilities and tactical knowledge of the coaches and the intensity week in week out. Henry scored a lot of very similar goals and I think the current crop of PL coaches would make it much harder for him.

I always thought Henry was a bit of a flat track bully and I think he'd be found out in the current PL.

 

[redshaw]

Was going to say Henry wasn't so unstoppable for Arsenal in the CL or for France. I think his ability and speed with the ball perhaps he could've been more effective at the business end, he had a very balletic style and obviously special, he could punish many teams creating space for himself. I recall thinking he may have spurned chances they came so easy for him at times and years later he admitted along those lines.

Mbappe is the real deal as well of course. I've been very impressed with his range of goals and smart passing and tricks around the box for other players, he should carry on for a long time and could become known for artistry like Henry Benzema, Bergkamp.

We don't know Mbappe's peak yet. He could leave Henry fans speechless at 25-26 years of age.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

Forget stats or who scored more for France etc, do people not use the eye test anymore and just discuss using G/A stats? If you watched both of them play regularly, then there is no way you can say Mbappe. Henry was different gravy, absolutely unstoppable in his pomp.

That's the issue I have with a lot of posters here, the total exageration. I'll state one more time that Henry was an amazing player, but he was far from unstoppable, and his record in the CL or with France clearly shows that wasn't the case. He might have looked unstoppable in the PL, but he was very stoppable even at his prime when he had a total drought in the 2nd group of the CL in 2003 (1 goal in the last 5 games of the group and he played all the minutes), or against Chelsea in 2004. He was also very stoppable by Senegal in 2002, then he had the great idea of collecting a red card against Uruguay (after of course not scoring in the 25mn he spent on the pitch).

My bolded part and yours, the discussions seem to just be about goals in arguments now, Henry was more than just a goal scorer, he was an assist machine as well by the way, far more creative for supplying his team mates than Mbappe.

Henry had far more to his game than Mbappe, a much more complete forward, obviously Mbappe is still young, but current Mbappe vs Henry, then Henry is a much better footballer.

 

[Pintu]

Champions league knockout stage :
- Henry : 11 goals in 32 games
- Mbappe : 7 goals in 12 games
Source : https://www.transfermarkt.co/most-g...ut-stage-since-2000/index/galerie/1348?page=1

World cup :
- Henry : 6 goals in 17 games
- Mbappe : 9 goals in 11 games

Henry was a great player and he helped a lot for a world cup, an euro for France and a champions league for Barca. But he never was the main guy in theses tournaments.

1998 world cup team of the tournament has 4 french players and Henry is not one of them.
It was the same for the euro 2000. 4 french players in the team of the tournament but not Henry

And on this world cup, Mbappe does it as the absolut star of the french national team being defended by at least 2 guys every times he touch the ball.

If Mbappe keeps going like that, it will look like the Rashford / Mbappe thread in a few years

Where is this stat coming from?

Mbappé has 15 goals in UCL knockout stage. 9 for Paris (2 against Madrid, 2 against Bayern, 4 against Barcelona, 1 against United) and 6 for Monaco (Against Juventus, City and Dortmund. -he scored also for Paris against both City & Juve, but that wasn't KO stage-) And some will tell you he has to do it against Burnley to prove his worth...

 

[Stacks]

Champions league knockout stage :
- Henry : 11 goals in 32 games
- Mbappe : 7 goals in 12 games
Source : https://www.transfermarkt.co/most-g...ut-stage-since-2000/index/galerie/1348?page=1

World cup :
- Henry : 6 goals in 17 games
- Mbappe : 9 goals in 11 games

Henry was a great player and he helped a lot for a world cup, an euro for France and a champions league for Barca. But he never was the main guy in theses tournaments.

1998 world cup team of the tournament has 4 french players and Henry is not one of them.
It was the same for the euro 2000. 4 french players in the team of the tournament but not Henry

And on this world cup, Mbappe does it as the absolut star of the french national team being defended by at least 2 guys every times he touch the ball.

If Mbappe keeps going like that, it will look like the Rashford / Mbappe thread in a few years

There were periods when Arsenal wasn't thar great. Mbappe basically plays for the French Man City. If Mbappe played for that Arsenal in that generation of football before the goal a game era do you feel he would fair better? Zlatan to me has been better for PSG than Mbappe and I would never compare Zlatan to Henry but that's just me.

 

[antk]

My bolded part and yours, the discussions seem to just be about goals in arguments now, Henry was more than just a goal scorer, he was an assist machine as well by the way, far more creative for supplying his team mates than Mbappe.

Henry had far more to his game than Mbappe, a much more complete forward, obviously Mbappe is still young, but current Mbappe vs Henry, then Henry is a much better footballer.

Per transfermarkt, Mbappé sits at 109 career assists right now. Henry has 177 over his whole career. If I'm counting properly, Mbappé also has only 2 less assists than Henry with the NT.

Even accounting for nowadays' goal inflation compared to the 00s, I can't see how one could be described as an "assist machine" and not the other.

People say "I don't watch Mbappé often" then claim ridiculous things about his game like there's no obvious dissonance.

 

[Oly Francis]

My bolded part and yours, the discussions seem to just be about goals in arguments now, Henry was more than just a goal scorer, he was an assist machine as well by the way, far more creative for supplying his team mates than Mbappe.

Henry had far more to his game than Mbappe, a much more complete forward, obviously Mbappe is still young, but current Mbappe vs Henry, then Henry is a much better footballer.

Please explain to me how Henry was "more than a goal scorer, far more creative" when France got eliminated without scoring a single goal in the 2002 WC or when Arsenal only won 1 of their 6 games in groupe 2 in the 2003 CL?

I agree Henry is a more complete forward, but please don't try to invent a "he brought something else to the table" argument when he and his team just sucked on various occasions. At one point, if you don't score, don't assist and your team looses, you're not unstoppable, period. That's fine, you can be an amazing player without being unstoppable, Mbappé is surely not unstoppable himself.

 

[GifLord]

Per transfermarkt, Mbappé sits at 109 career assists right now. Henry has 177 over his whole career. If I'm counting properly, Mbappé also has only 3 less assists than Henry with the NT.

Even accounting for nowadays' goal inflation compared to the 00s, I can't see how one could be described as an "assist machine" and not the other.

People say "I don't watch Mbappé often" then claim ridiculous things about his game like there's no obvious dissonance.

And he's playing in a joke of a league for a team that barely plays in 2nd gear most of the time because of how fecking strong they are.
Why do you think people call the ligue 1 the farmers league? Moise Kean who's an absolute joke of a striker managed to score 20 goals for PSG

 

[antk]

And he's playing in a joke of a league for a team that barely plays in 2nd gear most of the time because of how fecking strong they are.
Why do you think people call the ligue 1 the farmers league?

Just to stay clear of your meme, how do you explain he has 26 CL assists to Henry's 22 in half as many matches?

Pretty sure you'll talk about him having stacked teammates, but then how do you explain him having 23 NT assists to Henry's 25, once again in half as many matches? Wasn't the French NT good enough?

At some point some here should admit they just don't know what they're talking about.

 

[GifLord]

Just to stay clear of your meme, how do you explain he has 26 CL assists to Henry's 22 in half as many matches?

Pretty sure you'll talk about him having stacked teammates, but then how do you explain him having 23 NT assists to Henry's 25, once again in half as many matches? Wasn't the French NT good enough?

At some point some here should admit they just don't know what they're talking about.

Are you serious?
Because he's playing in a ridiciliously strong team. PSG are basically a galactico team.
Before every UCL campaing nobody even thought about Arsenal winning it while PSG has been among the top 5 teams every year to win it for the past few years now.

 

[fck]

That's the issue I have with a lot of posters here, the total exageration.

That happens every time a player of the past is talked about. We see every game and every move of Mbappe right now, the good and the not so good. For Henry we mostly remember almost only the good stuff which leads to funny exaggerations. Thats how our brains work I guess.

 

[antk]

Are you serious?
Because he's playing in a ridiciliously strong team. PSG are basically a galactico team.
Before every UCL campaing nobody even thought about Arsenal winning it while PSG has been among the top 5 teams every year to win it for the past few years now.

What about the NT then?

 

[wangyu]

As of now Henry. Completely unplayable for Arsenal.

 

[GifLord]

What about the NT then?

The NT was always played around Zizou

 

[Oly Francis]

What about the NT then?

Mbappé plays with a Galactico version of France as well! Giroud, Rabiot, Tchouameni, Hernandez, Dembele, Pavard, come on. Henry only had Zidane, Djorkaeff, Petit, Viera, Lizarazu, Ribery, Wiltord, Deschamps, Sagnol, Makelele...

 

[Pintu]

Are you serious?
Because he's playing in a ridiciliously strong team. PSG are basically a galactico team.
Before every UCL campaing nobody even thought about Arsenal winning it while PSG has been among the top 5 teams every year to win it for the past few years now.

Thanks to him... He's one of the main reasons PSG is a ridiculously strong team.

 

[GifLord]

Thanks to him... He's one of the main reasons PSG is a ridiculously strong team.

And yet he's not even the first name on team.

 

[Chairman Steve]

Henry at the moment considering how his completed playing career has gone. He was a bit of a lateish bloomer and he wasnt exceptional until he was about 25 but he sure rocketed after that. He played in an Arsenal team that basically had to sell every year and rely on Wenger’s then incredible scouting ability. He did not have an oil state bank rolling his team by any means and he was quite loyal to Arsenal for the most part.

Mbappe started early and who knows if he’s going to suffer burn out early as a result from sheer amount of games or just regress like some players too. Accumulated injuries will feck with him too if he gets them and as he ages.I think Mbappe needs to go somewhere more competitive though if he wants to build a legacy. Ligue 1 is a little underwhelming next to La Liga or Premier League. Any real worthwhile PSG achievements come out of Champions League which they have not won yet, because they’re kinda expecting win Ligue 1 anyway considering their resources against the other 19 teams.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

I really don't think he would. The PL in those days was nothing like the PL now in terms of the quality of players, the organisational abilities and tactical knowledge of the coaches and the intensity week in week out. Henry scored a lot of very similar goals and I think the current crop of PL coaches would make it much harder for him.

I always thought Henry was a bit of a flat track bully and I think he'd be found out in the current PL.

Nah. He was every bit as good as Salah. Better I reckon.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

That happens every time a player of the past is talked about. We see every game and every move of Mbappe right now, the good and the not so good. For Henry we mostly remember almost only the good stuff which leads to funny exaggerations. Thats how our brains work I guess.

That might be true for young people, but not for anyone that saw Henry.

I’d suggest we overrate Mbappe as clips are everywhere.

 

[shamans]

Mbappe will be happy to be remembered as an all time great everywhere outside of England.

Only in England, there is such a ridiculous importance to league title and especially Premier league title. Premier league wasn’t even the top league during Henry’s career

And I’m pretty sure if we include 2 Serie A titles as the best player in an all time great argument, it would be diminished by PL fans. Even if it was a time when Serie A was the strongest

There's a difference between not being the toughest league vs PSG in Uber eats league.

Also I'm not from England. Fans here feel the same. Heck there are French on this forum who think the same!

 

[Il Prete Rosso]

I really don't think he would. The PL in those days was nothing like the PL now in terms of the quality of players, the organisational abilities and tactical knowledge of the coaches and the intensity week in week out. Henry scored a lot of very similar goals and I think the current crop of PL coaches would make it much harder for him.

I always thought Henry was a bit of a flat track bully and I think he'd be found out in the current PL.

Are you crazy?! Dude, one of the main problems with football today is the lack of quality number 9's. Defenders now don't have classic number 9 problems and even managers like Mourinho have said the same thing. Yes, the game now is way more tactical and that has contributed to strikers playing 2 roles.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Henry was also really strong when shielding the ball. I remember him basically taking a full charge in the back and the other player fell over. My view is that Mbappe is insanely fast but even his highlights reels don’t approach Henry’s level of brilliance - and I hated Henry!

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I really don't think he would. The PL in those days was nothing like the PL now in terms of the quality of players, the organisational abilities and tactical knowledge of the coaches and the intensity week in week out. Henry scored a lot of very similar goals and I think the current crop of PL coaches would make it much harder for him.

I always thought Henry was a bit of a flat track bully and I think he'd be found out in the current PL.

Completely disagree. Henry would would have a field day playing in the current PL if you could somehow work some time travel magic.

 

[Sayros]

Henry scored 26 goals at 23 and 8 in the champions league. he was better than Rashford

Yeah, and Mbappe wasn't 23 when that game happened, and was still better than Rashford back then.

And he's playing in a joke of a league for a team that barely plays in 2nd gear most of the time because of how fecking strong they are.
Why do you think people call the ligue 1 the farmers league? Moise Kean who's an absolute joke of a striker managed to score 20 goals for PSG

Morons is the word I'd use, and I don't take their opinion seriously. Messi sure hasn't trashed that league since he's been here, and he's recognized by most as the GOAT. I take his opinion on the league and how fast and physical it is over idiots who use the term farmer's league, which is the league that's had many successful players transition to the PL, including Henry (I'm not counting his stint as a winger at Juventus). Your tagline absolutely suits you.

 

[colombianmancunian]

M’Bappe is better than 23 years old Henry. Henry at his prime is better than current M’Bappe.

Kylian at his prime will surpass Thierry, no doubt.

 

[Remember the geese]

I really don't think he would. The PL in those days was nothing like the PL now in terms of the quality of players, the organisational abilities and tactical knowledge of the coaches and the intensity week in week out. Henry scored a lot of very similar goals and I think the current crop of PL coaches would make it much harder for him.

I always thought Henry was a bit of a flat track bully and I think he'd be found out in the current PL.

Not a chance.

 

[roonster09]

I really don't think he would. The PL in those days was nothing like the PL now in terms of the quality of players, the organisational abilities and tactical knowledge of the coaches and the intensity week in week out. Henry scored a lot of very similar goals and I think the current crop of PL coaches would make it much harder for him.

I always thought Henry was a bit of a flat track bully and I think he'd be found out in the current PL.

Henry would score shit loads of goals and assists in current or any PL/league.

 

[kouroux]

Come on mate, open your eyes and stop believing what Henry, who always had a huge ego and said that as a joke during a video call after Mbappé said it about himself.

Henry was lightening fast and might have a higher top speed, but Mbappé's acceleration is out of this world.

Tbh, do we have Henry's stats at top speed ? I know we do for Mbappe. The eye test isn't enough, specially for players of different eras

 

[giorno]

There were periods when Arsenal wasn't thar great. Mbappe basically plays for the French Man City. If Mbappe played for that Arsenal in that generation of football before the goal a game era do you feel he would fair better? Zlatan to me has been better for PSG than Mbappe and I would never compare Zlatan to Henry but that's just me.

This is the guy who lead a young Monaco side to a SF at 18, scoring 6 goals in the KO rounds(2 against City, 3 against Dortmund, 1 against Juventus). We can compare teams and eras all we want and go round in circles. The actual, non-disputable fact is that Mbappé has been a far, far, faaaaar more productive player in CL than Henry. Henry played 13 seasons in CL and racked up 50 goals and 22 assists. Mbappé is in his 7th CL season and has 40 goals and 26 assists.

Likewise for France in tournaments, Henry played in 7*(2010 was a backup and barely played) tournaments, putting up 12 goals and 3 assists. Mbappé is in his 3rd and has 9 goals and 5 assists

Note that I'm going by transfermarket and they count penalties won(and then scored) as assists