Rico Henry
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jlove
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Thompson put in one fantastic cross, not something we really see from Henry, they can learn from each other.
Mr Cynical
Moderator
Rico Henry
Thought he played very well. Picked up an injury nearly scoring the fourth so sat back more than he might have for a while after that. He looks pretty good going forward though and has a very good cross on him,..
Mr Cynical
Moderator
Rico Henry
Not in any of the pictures today. I hope it’s not a bad injury, I honestly think if we were to lose Rico for a long period it would have a massive impact on where we finish this season. He doesn’t drop below 8/10 in any game.
Mr consistent!!
Mr consistent!!
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Hate that phrase they throw out there. Would prefer to say hes just injured. Gets our hopes up that its nothing major and then we dont see them for the best part of a month plus.
Bridge Bee
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hanworthbee
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Rico Henry
article in today's athletic
theathletic.com
EFL transfer targets: Rico Henry, the Brentford full-back wise beyond his years
Ex-Walsall youngster Rico Henry is the best left-back in the Championship and the next must-have product off the Brentford production line
theathletic.com
Mr Cynical
Moderator
Rico Henry
Certainly wasn't his best game for us yesterday, wonder if he was still feeling the effects of whatever injury it was he had? Hopefully back to his imperious best on Wednesday..
wanderer paul
https://brentfordfcmemorabilia.wordpress.com/
Rico Henry
EFL transfer targets: Rico Henry, the Brentford full-back wise beyond his years
Ex-Walsall youngster Rico Henry is the best left-back in the Championship and the next must-have product off the Brentford production line
theathletic.com
Thomas Frank’s face lights up when the name Rico Henry is mentioned.
“You always love your own children,” the Brentford manager says. “He’s one of my 25 sons in my squad. Of course, I absolutely love him.”
And so he should. The last 18 months has felt like a gaping chasm of unimaginably long time in the real world but in a football career, it really isn’t a particularly long time to make a lasting impression. In that time, though, Henry has gone from a promising youngster whose career was looking in danger of being badly hampered by injury to the best left-back in the Championship.
Along with being among the best teams in the second tier, Brentford have become a sort of gourmet talent buffet, finding players in places nobody else thought to look then cooking them just so, before teams with more money but less patience help themselves. The list of players they have sold at great profit over the last few years includes — but is not limited to — Andre Gray, James Tarkowski, Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma (initially on loan), Neal Maupay, Chris Mepham and Scott Hogan.
The year they sold half a team to Birmingham at a very tidy profit before finishing a breezy 23 points above them in the table was particularly poetic.
Henry is probably the next on the list of graduates. He may well have gone last summer if Brentford hadn’t already got £28 million for Watkins and had another £25 million coming down the pipe for Benrahma. A move then may have been a little early for him but even in the few months of this season, he has kicked on even further.
If anyone needs an attacking left-back, able to play as wing-back and probably a winger if you asked him to, with energy, pace and a keen defensive awareness, Henry is your man — and there aren’t too many clubs, in the bottom half of the Premier League particularly, who don’t fall into that category. West Ham were reportedly keen in the summer, Aston Villa too, and come January, the queue will undoubtedly grow.
People talk about Henry’s wisdom exceeding his 23 years, which is partly because this is his eighth season as a senior professional. He was brought into the first-team set-up at Walsall aged 16, when Dean Smith was their manager, and made his debut in 2014, impressing everyone thoroughly until a dislocated shoulder checked his progress.
“He more or less forced our hand to play him really,” Jon Whitney, who was Smith’s assistant at Walsall and would go on to manage the club, tells The Athletic. “You get some young players who you just know are going to break through. Even at a young age, he played with an old head on his shoulders.
Rico Henry has impressed at Brentford (Photo: Oli Scarff – Pool/Getty Images)
“He just gave that energy to the team. He lifted the crowd. That was a big thing we wanted to do: we had a few older players and I think we were looking at that transition of getting a much younger team and more energy into it.”
Smith left for Brentford midway through the 2015-16 season and the following summer, Henry followed. Injuries again stalled his progress: that dislocated shoulder still proved troublesome and delayed his debut until the February of his first season. Then an unbroken run in the team was ended by a knee injury. He returned at the start of the 2017-18 season but the knee went again in his eighth game back, surgery ensued, and he didn’t return for 14 months.
By the time he was fit again, Smith had left for Aston Villa, so Henry had to establish himself all over again with a new manager but it’s fair to say that, in the intervening two years, he has managed that. “Is he the best in division?” Frank says. “Others must judge that but he’s he’s definitely up there among the best.”
The determination and maturity Henry has shown over these past couple of years has been there since the start.
“His pace got him out of a lot of trouble,” says Whitney of those early days at Walsall, “but he started to really get better tactically, especially with Dean, who he had a really good connection with.
“He just went from strength to strength, really. The more responsibility you gave Rico, the better he got, and I think you also see that now. I think he’s become a lot more robust and resilient.
“He’s always somebody who will go the extra mile for his fitness. I remember him doing some extra work with a performance coach even when he was at Walsall: you had to keep the reins on him a little bit so he didn’t do too much, which is always easier than trying to kick somebody up the backside.”
Brentford have reached the stage where any player they have is almost pre-approved — such is their record at polishing talent for the Premier League that you basically assume anyone they deem good enough is probably good enough for anyone — but Henry would stand out in any team, mainly because he’s essentially the complete modern full-back.
You notice Henry because of his pace, zooming up and down the flank in an era where full-backs are now basically expected to be wing-backs or even de facto wingers. But attacking full-backs are ten-a-penny: you know you’ve got the real thing when they can defend properly, too.
“He’s extremely good defensively,” Frank says. “Almost no one is going past him — very, very few times. He’s so aggressive and maybe you think you’re going past him but then, oops! He’s there again.”
“He catches the eye because he is a forward-thinking, modern-day full-back,” adds Whitney. “His strength is defending from the front.”
There are things to improve, of course. Frank says they’ve been working on his crossing, and decision-making in the final third. “His composure is something we’re talking about, to consistently try to force him to to to get good positions and maybe have that extra half a second.”
But you can be pretty sure that Henry will improve those things.
“Rico only has either zero or 100 per cent,” says Frank. “He can’t go in between.”
Holysmit
Well-known member
Rico Henry
article in today's athletic
EFL transfer targets: Rico Henry, the Brentford full-back wise beyond his years
Ex-Walsall youngster Rico Henry is the best left-back in the Championship and the next must-have product off the Brentford production line
I normally hate saying they are the best player in the league when it's one of our own players and I think we are biased. But for Henry it's true he's the best in the league by a country mile.
jlove
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Just keep repeating: Omar Richards is consistency ranked the highest left back in the Championship... Omar Richards is consistency ranked the highest left back in the Championship... forget about Rico Henry...
Holysmit
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Suprises me I've seen a lot of Reading this season and they can't defend!
Les Beeavinu
Administrator
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
It will depend on the offer and how desperate the club are for cash with the current covid affected climate.
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
I think any decision to sell a player in January is more likely to be based on how the offer compares to the money earned for being promoted to the Prem......every year......and whether their departure reduces our chances of promotion.
Until I see MBs luxury yacht parked up outside a pawn shop in West London, I am telling myself we are better positioned to survive Covid than most.
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
hanworthbee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Seems to have gone from a player who was always injured to always being fit....he can do better than west brom
TW3Bee
Can We Play You Every Week
Indian Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Having rewatched the game this morning I didn’t appreciate what an amazing tackle/block that was in the first half when Bournemouth looked odds on to score.
I have run out of superlatives for Rico. One of my top 10 players ever for a Brentford.
I have run out of superlatives for Rico. One of my top 10 players ever for a Brentford.
Rico Henry
There are no Premier League games there any more, so I very much doubt it...
Mr Cynical
Moderator
Gazza Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Think he proved that not only is he PL class but would have improved Spurs tonight - Regulion not a patch on him aside from a good delivery for the goal which had we defended properly wouldnt have gone in.
Vid
Active member
Rico Henry
He is very fast. He needs to work on his crossing and shooting accuracy . Looked odd having him mark Kane at set pieces considering the height difference but Harry didn't get a sniff. Top performance.
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
That cross is what i would like to see Rico doing more of. Rico gets into good positions but wants to pull ut back and turn inside a lot.
Gazza Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
I really think he would be top 6 PL if his final ball was better - I cant think of many better defensively even at the top clubs
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Guildford Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
He’s not just the best LB in the Championship, he’s the best player in the Championship
badgerbee
Mafeking Avenue........gets you there!!!!
Rico Henry
Thought Rico had one of his toughest games this season last night.
Most of the threat from LT came down their right and there were a number of crosses/chances that made it into our box from there.
Seen plenty suggesting he'll start on Sunday, but would like to hope we can avoid the need for that so RH is ready for next Wednesday.
Most of the threat from LT came down their right and there were a number of crosses/chances that made it into our box from there.
Seen plenty suggesting he'll start on Sunday, but would like to hope we can avoid the need for that so RH is ready for next Wednesday.
jlove
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Luton's default style of play is lone striker up front (Collins) with their best player (Cornick) off to his right and to get the ball into their right channel as quickly as possible. That meant an overload of work for Henry and Sørensen, with Jensen covering in front of them. Rico had a really hard time and he seemed to tire, like most of our players. It wasn't pretty and Luton's attackers were poor in and around the box with generally wild shots from outside. I think all we can say is that we got the job done, can return to training, have a free hand for the Cup game and focus on Swansea, a classic "6 pointer".
Beeswaxnees
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Rico Henry
You have to look at the team performance in the first half where they never got anything from Rico or the team with a lot of our attack coming from the left with him alongside Canos. I have heard the players were complaining how the pitch became heavy which made them tiered quickly in the second half. With Canos working so hard in the first half his legs had gone and found it hard tracking back to cover. With fresh legs coming on for Luton in the way of three subs, it became really hard for us to get out of our half until we ourselves brought on fresh legs. I thought it was a great performance from us considering it's our first game back after the break with us showing some real steel and resolute in this team.
nick logan
Well-known member
Rico Henry
The year they sold half a team to Birmingham at a very tidy profit before finishing a breezy 23 points above them in the table was particularly poetic.
nick logan
Well-known member
Rico Henry
Surprisingly mortal last night. If you're going to have a sub par game good idea to have it while a transfer window is open. Still convinced he'll be the longest serving Bee capable of playing in the Prem who does so as a Brentford player.
nick logan
Well-known member
beebopalula
Well-known member
Rico Henry
I wish he'd do something about his crossing. I'd have thought he'd work on it but if he does it doesn't show. The rest is great but that omission might determine whether he hits the Prem with another club.
Rico Henry
His crossing does let him down at times but I think there's no doubt he will be playing Premiership football next year, with or without us.
jlove
Well-known member
Rico Henry
I think that's his main weakness. The majority of Premier League full backs are attacking wing-backs and end product is the important measure. He's well-adjusted with our players around him but I think he'd have a problem adjusting to a side that demands accurate crosses from a full back.
BFC1997
Very well-known member
Rico Henry
Played really well so don’t want to dig him out.... but it’s that final ball again....
Got into lots of great positions but couldn’t find that killer pass/cross. Really should have scored in the first half but couldn’t find the finish.
Got into lots of great positions but couldn’t find that killer pass/cross. Really should have scored in the first half but couldn’t find the finish.
Beeswaxnees
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Rico Henry
I remember at least two good crosses were we should have scored, one being on the nail for Mbeumo in the first half and the other for Toney which he just missed the goal. There was a moment where Rico did found himself in a really good position to force the ball low into the six-yard box but skewed high missing every team player which I thought WTF, but that ball was eventually kept in play and we scored from it. He had a good game overall keeping Lowe and Roberts quiet most of the game. I do agree, however, he needs to improve on his final ball, but the question is; when can he practice this with all the games coming thick and thin with him playing every single league game since last season apart from one or maybe two games?
Isleworth_Bee
Well-known member
Rico Henry
I would normally agree with his final ball needing work. But to be fair to him last night his final ball was actually good. The one terrible delivery actually ended up leading to our goal lol
Rico Henry
Amazing player, but as others above have alluded too, his final ball is pretty terrible.
When you consider the amount of forward posistions he gets himself into he should have more assists.
To put it into perspective - he has the same amount of assists this season as Ethan Pinnock, Emiliano, Janelt and even Baptiste.
Would i change him for any other LB though? Absolutely not.
When you consider the amount of forward posistions he gets himself into he should have more assists.
To put it into perspective - he has the same amount of assists this season as Ethan Pinnock, Emiliano, Janelt and even Baptiste.
Would i change him for any other LB though? Absolutely not.