'Unstoppable': Thierry Henry admits attacker who had two stints at Tottenham was genuinely 'special'
12/17/2024 03:15 AM
Over the years, Tottenham Hotspur have had several incredible attacking players at their disposal.
Perhaps the greatest attacker to play for Tottenham in the modern era remains Harry Kane, who is the Premier League’s second-highest goalscorer in history behind Alan Shearer with 213 goals.
Heung-min Son’s Premier League assist record (68) has surpassed Darren Anderton as Spurs’ greatest-ever in the competition in this regard.
In the past, Jermain Defoe was another forward who was incredible in a Tottenham shirt.
However, a Tottenham legend who was arguably even better than Kane, Son and Defoe at his very best was Gareth Bale.
So much so that Gareth Bale is better than Ronaldinho, according to Steve McManaman, as he went on to further cement his status as an elite forward at Real Madrid.
Thierry Henry had his say on the former Spurs speedster.
Thierry Henry hails Gareth Bale at Tottenham
The Arsenal legend decided to put rivalries aside and give the Welshman the credit he deserves for his time in North London.
Thierry Henry lauded how incredible Gareth Bale was on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football with the ball at his feet, looking back at his unforgettable performance in Tottenham’s 4-3 defeat against Inter Milan where he scored a hat-trick.
“Obviously, I don’t like to see that shirt [Tottenham] there but look, you have to give him his credit. As you [Jamie Carragher] said, winning twice, the Player of the Year in a short amount of time if you think about it, playing for a team that wasn’t supposed to battle.”
“I’m not having a go, I know people will find I’m having a go. When he had the ball at his feet, when he put the second gear, the third gear, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, I don’t know how many gears he had. He was just unstoppable.”
“I remember the game in Milan in the Champions League, that was just astonishing and he went on to be special even more after that. Special player.”
In the 2012/2013 Premier League season in particular, Bale was a force of nature in a Tottenham shirt, scoring 21 goals and providing two assists.
Ange Postecoglou dubbed Gareth Bale as a “legend” and simply described him saying, “what a player.”
Dejan Kulusevski hailed Gareth Bale as an “unbelievable player” as well.
Gareth Bale named as one of the Premier League’s best ever
Jamie Carragher ranked the five-time Champions League winner as the 10th-greatest forward to have ever played in the Premier League on Monday Night Football.
“Gareth Bale was on there because I think he got PFA Player of the Year twice and I think to do that for a team who was only competing for Champions League positions is pretty special, when you think of some of players in the Premier League playing for teams going for the title at that time.”
However, Jamie Carragher felt that the reason why he could not place Gareth Bale higher on his list is because he did not win any silverware at Tottenham.
“The reason he’s not higher up the list, again is the fact that I don’t think he won a trophy at Tottenham and for me, being the man or the player that takes a team to a trophy is something I can never get out of my mind really.”
“Tottenham were not the worst team so if you’re fourth in the Premier League, the fact he never won an FA Cup for them or something else or that, if he’d done something like that for Tottenham who don’t notoriously win trophies, he’d have been a few places higher up.”
However, it is clear to see how fondly Bale continues to be remembered.
