Gunners Town is pleased to feature this guest post by Zach Lowy (@zachlowy) a freelance journalist who writes for various outlets such as Fotmob, RG News and more.
Unplayable
Across his two decades in English football, Steven Caldwell faced off against some of the greatest strikers in the history of the Premier League. The former Scottish international defender suited up for Newcastle, Blackpool, Bradford City, Leeds United, Sunderland, Burnley, Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City, making 88 appearances in the Premier League and 220 in the EFL Championship. He cut his teeth against a wide range of superstar strikers, but nobody came close to Arsenal’s Thierry Henry.
“Thierry Henry was literally unplayable,” stated Caldwell in an RG interview. “He was really special. During the early 2000s, he was the best player in the world…he was impossible to play against. I played against a lot of great strikers like Wayne Rooney, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Didier Drogba, and Robbie Fowler, but Henry was the best. If Henry was on it, it was impossible to stop him. He could do anything, he could take you on in 1v1s, he had skill and size, power and pace…he had the lot.”
Steven Caldwell
Credit: Planet Sport
During his eight years in North London, Thierry Henry built a reputation as one of the finest footballers of his generation, finishing as the top scorer in Europe on two occasions as well as the top scorer in the Premier League on four occasions. He was named the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year and the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2002/03 and 2005/06, and he played a pivotal role in Arsenal’s glorious start to the new millennium under Arsène Wenger.
Henry terrorized a variety of seasoned Premier League defenders, Caldwell included. In their first meeting in 2000, Henry broke the deadlock and paved the way for a 5-0 win against Newcastle, whilst their second meeting would see ‘Titi’ score four goals against Caldwell’s soon-to-be-relegated Leeds side. It was more of the same in their third encounter, with Henry scoring a brace to lead Arsenal to a 3-1 win vs. Sunderland. Even after they called it quits on their careers in European football and decided to start a new chapter in MLS, the French striker continued to wreak havoc against Caldwell, opening the scoring for the New York Red Bulls in a 2-0 win vs. Toronto FC in 2013.
It’s been nearly two decades since Henry left England, and yet, his legacy still lives on. Nobody has managed to replicate his feat of 2002/03, when he registered a single-season Premier League record of 20 assists, and nobody has managed to replicate his feat of 2003/04, when he guided Arsenal to an unbeaten Premier League title. His 175 Premier League goals are bettered only by Alan Shearer, Harry Kane, Andrew Cole, Sergio Aguero and Frank Lampard, and it’s why he’s still considered as one of the greatest footballers to grace an English football pitch. And it should come as no surprise that, when the Premier League introduced its Hall of Fame in April 2021, Henry and Shearer were the first two players to be inducted.
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