Thierry Henry may make it look easy with plays like this, but mark his words: MLS is no cakewalk.
In a video interview with ESPNFC.com this week (above), the New York Red Bulls' star forward discussed his experience convincing his colleagues in Europe of the league's quality and difficult level,
"People [in Europe] have the view of MLS that it’s an easy league, that you can come here and score goals and it’s going to be easy," Henry explained. "I keep on telling them, ‘It’s not that easy.’ You have to perform, you have to show people here that you can play and they’ll give you your respect, but not before that."
The English Premier League's third-ranked goalscorer of all time knows a thing or two about the goalscoring side of things, and even the difficulty of scoring in MLS – his 10-goal output in 2013 was the only the third time since he joined Arsenal in 1999 that he's scored 10 or fewer league goals in a full season of play.
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Given his pedigree in the game, Henry's words carry plenty of weight in the global soccer scene, but if you're still doubting him, he had this to say:
"I keep on telling them, ‘It is not that easy,’ but I guess the guys can only come and try to find out themselves," he argued. "They have to come here and notice, especially one thing that used to be hard for me in the beginning was the travel.
"And also playing through the summer, it’s brutal. Playing two times, 45 minutes and being able to stop and drink only at halftime in Houston, in Dallas or even in New York or in Philly, it is not an easy task. So I say to the guys, ‘If you don’t know about the league then don’t talk. Come and play, and you’ll see.’"
