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Who was better in their prime? Thierry Henry or Alan Shearer?

I'm not talking about who was the better player overall. I'm asking who was the better striker in their prime?

And what are your reasons? Don't just focus on their goal records.

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Reply 1

Stu Laverty

Probably about even. Shearer's peak (Blackburn and one season at Newcastle), he was a very well rounded player and not the typical target man that he became known for in his later career. He also had devastating pace and was a surprisingly great passer too. Henry kind of speaks for himself and was certainly more technically brilliant than Shearer. But both were about as effective as one another in their primes (Henry in the early/mid 00's, Shearer in the mid 90's).

Reply 2

SÃ¡m

As an Arsenal I'm probably being biased if I said I would prefer Henry over Shearer. Shearer was a fantastic player, having the title 'Most Goals in the Premier League' surely means he can't have been that bad, right? But some of the technical ability Henry possessed was magical and links he had with Pires/Bergkamp would rip apart any defence.

Reply 3

MagicNMedicine

In their absolute prime I would say Henry.

The only reason I hesitate slightly, is that Henry's prime coincided with Arsenal's prime. He had players around him that Shearer never did: even at Blackburn when they were champions, he was playing with guys like Jason Wilcox, Stuart Ripley, Tim Sherwood, Mark Atkins, when the equivalents for Henry were Pires, Ljungberg, Vieira and Gilberto.

I think Henry was a better team player than Shearer, whereas Shearer was more an individual. However, that also meant Shearer was just as effective whoever he was with, Blackburn, Newcastle, England, he had some toughish times with those clubs too, but he was relentlessly consistent.

Watching Henry was good for the appreciation of footballing artistry, Shearer was good for the rush of adrenaline as he would **** the ball in first time and you go AVE IT.

Oh yeah and Henry had Bergkamp up front with him, probably the most gifted ever player in the Premier League. Imagine if Shearer had had him laying stuff off to him.

Reply 4

masterparth

Henry, the invincibles tore teams apart limb from limb from limb

Posted from TSR Mobile

Henry

Henry was the best striker in the world 2001-2006, no contest.

Reply 7

Silver060

Shearer in my opinion was probably a better goal scorer but I think henry get my vote because he was more than just a basic striker he could have played anywhere up front and created chances out of nothing. Cristiano Ronaldo is still better :biggrin:

Reply 8

ArsenalWenger

Henry, how this man never won the Ballon D'or is an absolute crime.

Reply 9

Kutta

Original post by Zürich

Henry was the best striker in the world 2001-2006, no contest.

Ronaldo !! The guy was a beast. Maybe in the latter years after in between 05-06 he started the inevitable decline but I would say ronaldo was the best striker in that era.

On question - Henry was better than shearer I think, although both were ridiculously talented players.

Reply 10

ZÃ¼rich

Original post by Kutta

Henry got 130 league goals from 2001-2006, Ronaldo got 90. Henry got 29 CL goals to Ronaldo's 15. Henry also got 59 EPL assists, much more than Ronaldo in LL. For their countries TH scored 31 goals whereas Ronaldo got 26.

So TH crushes him in stats. He was also the more complete striker in linking up and was capable of scoring a huge variety of goals.

Henry is actually underrated by most people. Easily the best ever EPL player.

Reply 11

sr90

Volunteer Team

Thierry Henry is the best player i've ever seen in the Premier League.

Reply 12

tengentoppa

I'd go for Henry. Technically brilliant and insanely fast. I think he was the best player in the world as Zidane started to age and before Ronaldinho hit his peak.

Reply 13

tengentoppa

Original post by Kutta

Ronaldo after his injury wasn't half the player he was in the late 90s. He was still a very good player, but not as good as Henry at that time.

Reply 14

tengentoppa

Original post by Zürich

Ronaldo was pretty good too. It's probably between those two.

Reply 15

Van_the_Artist

If we're including other factors such as goal celebrations, then Henry hands down! Shearer lacked creativity.

Reply 16

Opts

Henry was pure class, even as a United fan - watching him opening his body up and placing the ball into the bottom corner, left side or right, never got old. He was consistently scoring goals, passionate about his club and in truth a role model which unfortunately many EPL players nowadays have looked past in favour of mercenary contracts.

Reply 17

Spontogical

Thierry Henry, such a sublime player. By far my favourite to ever grace the EPL. Like mentioned above - how on earth did he never win a World Player of the Year award is beyond me.. maybe because Ronaldo and Zidane were taking them all at the time haha :biggrin:

Reply 18

Cable

Original post by Zürich

Easily the best ever EPL player.

Not sure about that. He was definitely one of the best PL players ever. But easily the best?

What about Scholes? Zola? Lampard? Ronaldo? Gerrard?

Regarding the comparison between Shearer and Henry, I don't think it's quite clear cut that Henry was better as the posts in this thread implies.

Yes, Henry had superior technique, dribbling, pace and arguably passing as well. But Shearer at his peak had superior shooting (e.g. volleys, long range shots), heading, aggression and strength. He also had brilliant pace, ball control and was good at passing and set pieces. There's a reason he's the highest PL scorer ever so far.

Personally, if I was a defender, I would be slightly more worried about going up against Shearer than Henry. Don't forget that Henry had the help of playing in an extremely talented team.

But it's just my opinion and I understand why some people would prefer Henry. He was world class in his prime.