As I sat watching Thierry Henry absolutely eviscerate Columbus on Saturday night, all I could think was, "Haven’t we seen this movie before?"
Henry has been one of the best players in MLS since his arrival in July 2010 and he has often saved his best performances for Red Bull Arena.
Think back to the two-game stretch at the beginning of the 2012 season when he scored five goals and collected two assists against Colorado and Montreal, leading the Red Bulls to a combined score of 9-3 over their foes.
Later in the 2012 season he had a similar one-goal, three-assist performance against Toronto FC as the Red Bulls demolished the Reds 4-1 in Harrison. The game on Saturday wasn’t even the first time he obliterated the Crew at home. In that same 2012 season Henry scored two goals and added an assist as the Red Bulls beat the Crew 3-1.
Last season he showed that same form in two games against Montreal, scoring three goals and assisting on two others as New York took all six points at home.
WATCH: Henry's bicycle kick against Montreal
It’s not all that surprising that his best games come at home as strikers seem to thrive off of the buzz created by their home fans. It’s something that is even indicated in the stats, since 43 of the top 48 goalscorers in MLS history have scored a higher percentage of their goals at home.
Henry, in particular, is susceptible to that trend. Over 70 percent of his goals have come at home, the fourth highest percentage in league history among players with at least 45 MLS goals behind Dante Washington, Steve Ralston and Kei Kamara.
Of course some of that is affected by the fact that he won’t play at places like New England, Seattle, and Vancouver due to their artificial turf fields. As a result, Henry has simply played a higher percentage of games at home than most of the league's all-time best scorers.
Nonetheless, it's worth checking out how Henry’s home/road split stacks up against some of the biggest names in MLS, past and present:
If you're wanting to see the Arsenal legend perform at his best you should probably head to Red Bull Arena -- soon. Henry’s contract is up after this year and it is unclear what his plans are for the future.
And if you're a Red Bulls fan, you need to keep your fingers crossed that Henry's home dominance finally extends into the postseason, should New York qualify. In 306 home playoff minutes across four games, Henry has yet to find the net and New York have dropped all four.
That's a movie we've seen before, too.
