Red Bull captain Thierry Henry was born 3,600 miles away in France, made his name on another continent winning everything there was to win with Les Blues, Arsenal and Barcelona. But last weekend he showed the bond he’s formed with his adopted home and his new fans, paying homage to their long wait for an MLS Cup.
Henry wore what appeared to be a MetroStar armband in last Saturday’s 4-1 rout of Toronto FC, just as he had in the previous home loss to Sporting KC. And after the third and fourth goals, he ran to the supporters’ sections in the South Ward and pointed to it, showing them he literally wore what was in their hearts on his sleeve.
The MetroStars were bought by Red Bull and rebranded back in 2008, a move that has left their fan base divided and often warring amongst itself, a schism between the new and the old, the latter group grown bitter over years of suffering since 1996 without a title.
But when they come together to pack Red Bull Arena as they did last Saturday, a sellout crowd of 25,017, they provide arguably MLS’ most fierce homefield advantage – one they’ll hope to use this Saturday vs. Chicago.
“We have the best fans in the league,’’ said keeper Bill Gaudette, a St. John’s graduate and New York native. And while coach Hans Backe felt they may have the worst field in MLS, their stadium holds some of the league’s best fans.
“I think it makes a difference, definitely,’’ said Backe. “With this kind of environment as we had (Saturday), it’s so much more noisy. We know that veterans or established players, they lift the game 10%. They get more motivated, they run 10% more, they attack 10% more when you have that kind of a sell-out.’’
It’s hard to imagine Henry lifting his game too higher than it was last Saturday, when he shredded Toronto FC with a goal and three assists, named MLS Player of the Week for a fifth time this season.
After setting up Kenny Cooper’s second goal, he pointed into the South Ward stands, then at the armband with the black-and-red stripes, original MetroStar GM Charlie Stillitano’s homage to his beloved AC Milan. And finally, after his pièce de résistance – a sublime a sublime long-range chip from the left wing to cap the scoring – he tapped the armband as the fans chanted “Hen-ry! Hen-ry!”
It was a moment of palpable rapport between captain and supporters, 5,000 of whom had received T-shirts with his name and number. But truth be told, the entire team praised the support they’ve gotten from the fans.
“These fans are the greatest in the league,’’ said Brandon Barklage, who appears to have reclaimed the right back spot from rookie Connor Lade. “All I ask is that they keep coming out supporting us, and we’ll give them a great show.’’
Their 11-3-1 mark at Red Bull Arena has given them 36 points in 15 home games, an MLS-best ratio that exceeds even 10-5-0 Houston, the league’s only unbeaten home side. They’re hoping to ride that homefield edge in this coming Saturday’s huge Eastern Conference showdown with the second-place Fire.
“(The crowd impact) is massive, man,’’ said Lloyd Sam. Who was accustomed to rabid support playing in England at Leeds and Charlton. “We knew we wanted to play in front of bigger crowds, we want that every week.’’