Henry rated Europe’s No 1 attacker

Henry
By Boris Mellor
November 27 2006

Henry should not be demoralised by European Footballer of the Year going to Cannavaro, and Gianluigi Buffon second. It is unusual for defenders to win the Ballon d'Or . Nonetheless Henry finished higher than any other European attacking or midfield player. Higher than E’to, Ronaldinho, or Zidane.

To my mind these awards are all about international football such as the World Cup, hence the number of duds who have won it in the past. A player who has hardly played for his club, or played shite all season, can win it on the basis of a good performance in one final. Club football doesn’t get a look in. So a player who delivers game after game is often, but not always, ignored.

To some extent Cannavaro’s award is a backlash against Zidane winning the Player of the World Cup Award. Some felt he shouldn’t have got the award because he head butted Materazzi, that it was Cannavaro who should have got it for playing for the best sledgers at the games.

You cant really compare an attacker with defenders, and Cannavaro is a great defender, and Buffon a great goal keeper. Not every year does a player from the lower reaches get named second for Europe’s greatest award.  Nor very often does any defender win it, only three times in the past.

No time for sour grapes, well done Cannavaro, and well done Henry, you are rated the best attacker in Europe.

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