Thierry Henry Has to Stay Hot If the New York Red Bulls Want to Advance

Thierry Henry is still making an impact on his club, the New York Red Bulls, at the age of 37. However, the Red Bulls are down 2-1 on aggregate against the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference final. New York will need the ex-France international to continue to excel if they want to finally claim the MLS Cup.

Henry has typically underwhelmed in the playoffs. However, despite not scoring, the Frenchman has recorded four assists, all of them crucial to New York's postseason run. 

Henry assisted Bradley Wright-Phillips' first goal against Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference knockout round to tie the match in the 77th minute. The veteran was involved in all three of Wright-Phillips' tallies in the conference semifinals against D.C. United as well.

This past weekend in the first leg versus the Revolution, Henry wasn't as noticeable. Despite that, the Red Bulls are only down 2-1, but New England has two away goals, meaning New York has to rely on their star designated player.

Rich Schultz/Associated Press

Golden Boot winner Wright-Phillips is suspended for the second leg, which puts extra pressure on Henry to deliver the goods. The forward will be playing his first game at Gillette Stadium, which has a turf surface and is something the Red Bulls star hasn't liked in his time in MLS.

Henry has only scored once in the playoffs in his MLS career, per the league's official website. He'll most likely be playing with the red-hot Peguy Luyindula, who has two goals in the postseason so far, and Tim Cahill.

Cahill has been hit-and-miss with the Red Bulls this season because his role is undefined with head coach Mike Petke. It will either be the Australian international or Luyindula starting up front with the other operating as a No. 10. Henry will probably occupy his usual role on the left with freedom to roam, assuming New York lines up the same as the first leg.

Petke hinted that there would be tweaks to both his system and the game plan, per Franco Panizo of the MLS website.

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Like I’ve said forever, we are who we are. However, there can be some tweaks made within this system, and there will be some tweaks made. Not a completely separate game plan, not necessarily [that] we’re going to switch to eight forwards and man-mark everybody else in the back. No.

As the game goes on, depending on how it goes, there could be some major changes either way, whether we’re successful and ahead or we’re behind. Aside from one little tweak, the mindset, the game plan, one or two separate things that we’re really going to focus on, it’s business as usual.

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Assuming the Red Bulls are eliminated this weekend, the focus of the team will switch to Henry's future. He's either going to leave the Red Bulls after the season, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, or retire, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, although that's looking less likely to happen, according to the AFP's Tom Williams and Goal.com's Robin Bairner.

The latter would be disappointing, because Henry can still play at a pretty high level at his advanced age. However, if he wants to finish his time in New York with a trophy, he has to be the one to lead the comeback against New England.

Henry hasn't been consistent in the playoffs, which may describe his stint in MLS if the Red Bulls don't progress to the MLS Cup final, but he has the ability to change that reputation in Saturday's game in Foxborough.