The Red Bulls acknowledge Thierry Henry’s Achilles injury is a chronic one that’s been off-and-on for seven years. And while new performance analyst James Murphy downplayed it as a problem that can be managed, coach Hans Backe said it was too early to tell if it would trouble the star striker for the rest of the year.
“I must say I feel sorry for him because his Achilles has been a problem for five, six, seven years. But now he’s got so much pain so we just have to take it day-by-day now. He will get his treatment every day,’’ said Backe, who chose to leave Henry on the field Saturday in Philadelphia while taking off Juan Agudelo and Dane Richards. Now Backe is unsure if Henry would be fit for Saturday’s tilt vs. San Jose.
Luke Rodgers is an option to start up front next to Agudelo if Henry can’t play, although Backe admits he could use newly-acquired midfielder Dwayne De Rosario as a support striker depending upon the French star’s availability and their sputtering attack, which has mustered an MLS-worst two goals in four games.
Backe added the crowded fixture schedule Henry had faced at Arsenal and then Barcelona actually worked in his favor because the practice time was limited during the season; but now, at 33-years-old and facing practice every day, it tends to be tougher to manage the injury, which is not expected to require surgery.
“Here when we play once a week, you need to train to stay fit and to be sharp. So we just have to see. He’s resting today, yesterday and tomorrow and see on Thursday if he can train or not,’’ said Backe. “At his age now, playing once a week, you need to stay fit, you need to train. I feel a little bit sorry for him because of this. He’s really trying but of course…he can’t go 100 percent every game.’’
He may not be able to go at all in Saturday’s tilt, a payback game against the team that eliminated the Red Bulls in the first round of last year’s playoffs. It should be noted that Henry missed the road leg of that series due to injuries, and came on during the waning minutes of the Red Bulls’ disappointing 3-1 upset loss at home.
And after missing the March 26 tie in Columbus with hamstring woes, now Henry is very much in doubt for Saturday. He hasn’t scored a goal this season and has just two since inking a 4 ½-year deal last summer that pays him $5 million per season. Still, Backe said he’s not frustrated with his Designated Player’s inability to play.
“No; I’ve been too long in this game to know when you get the injured players and you get that kind of injuries, almost chronic Achilles injuries. I’m not getting frustrated, I just feel sorry for the player,’’ said Backe. But when asked if he could say it won’t hamper the French star all year, the coach couldn’t promise that.
“It’s too early to say, because we just sat down yesterday after the Philly game and talked about it that something needs to be done. I can just take it from there….We just need to sit down and talk to the trainers and see what they’re doing now. But they’ve been working the whole preseason with that.’’
Henry was at practice today, getting treatment apart from his teammates. He left without addressing the media, walking with only a slight limp and no visible boot on his leg. The Red Bulls don’t practice tomorrow, but Henry is expected to come to the training complex for treatment and his own regimen.
“Thierry’s had this problem for around seven years. It’s a chronic problem with both Achilles tendons. Arsenal, Barcelona, and he’s had it since he’s been here as well,’’ said Red Bulls performance analyst James Murphy. “He’s just been managing them from time to time. You get an acute flare-up, and that’s what he has at the moment; but it’s nothing to be worried about.
“We’ll manage it from day-to-day as we do normally. He responded well to treatment today and we expect him to be back on the field tomorrow. The rest of the players are off tomorrow but he’s coming in to do some light jogging and see how he responds to that. But we’re not concerned unduly about it.’’
Murphy said the injury can flare up from training and playing on different pitches, but downplayed it. He concurred with Backe that surgery won’t be needed, but took a far more optimistic stance than the veteran coach did that the injury shouldn’t keep Henry out long-term. We’ll see.
“No, that wouldn’t be the case, especially for this injury, you really wouldn’t want to shut him down for too long anyway because that’s not the way to treat tendon injuries. So we have a specific tendon management program, which he has, he’s been doing,’’ Murphy said. “We expect him to be out on the field tomorrow and we’ll just take it day by day, manage it day-by-day.’’
In keeping with the rest of their prognosis, Backe and Murphy sent mixed messages about how much the injury is impacting Henry’s substandard play, scoreless since last September 21 against Colorado.
“We’ve been aware of it. But everyone knows that when you have that problem you can’t sprint 100 percent or twist or turn the way you need,’’ said Backe, while Murphy didn’t seem to think it had hindered Henry that much.
“Only Thierry can tell you that; I can only talk about the medical point of view,’’ Murphy said. “(But) I don’t think it’s unduly having a massive effect on him.’’
With a $20 million investment in Henry, the Red Bulls can only hope the Achilles is a big reason for his struggles, and that he gets better when his injury does.
What do you think of this development? Check back later for a post dealing with Henry’s performance and Backe’s other options, from Rodgers to De Rosario.
