Thierry Henry: The Unquestionable Greatest Player in Premier League History

'Is this the beginning of the end for Arsenal's Premier League ambitions?'

On April 9, 2004, Sami Hyypia managed to take advantage of Arsenal's unusually lax defense, securing Liverpool a 1-0 lead at Highbury Stadium.

Alarm bells.

Arsenal had been just eight games away from achieving Premier League invincibility before the match against Gerard Houllier's Liverpool team. Arsenal had remained undefeated in 30 games of the 2003/04 season thus far. Another eight games without defeat would have recorded them as the first-ever 'Invincibles' of modern English football, and secured them a third Premier League championship under the legendary leadership of Arsene Wenger.

Weighing up the final eight games, the clash against Liverpool seemed like the potential stumbling block for Arsenal. Liverpool had arrived at the game in top form, having claimed victories in four of their last five games. Liverpool's unbeaten run in scoring, primarily due to star players Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, had remained unbroken since mid-March.

A minor performance drop against Liverpool would have been enough to halt Arsenal's ambition to finish the season without losing a game.

Sadly, a moment of inattention nearly resulted in just that within the first five minutes of the game.

But, the potential catastrophe was avoided due to Thierry Henry's presence on the pitch.

Fortunately for Arsenal, Henry managed to equalize the score 25 minutes later. The adroit Henry skillfully received a chipped pass from Robert Pires, controlled it beautifully, and netted it convincingly, in true Henry style.

It was now 1-1.

Despite providing Arsenal a solid base for victory, another defensive slip allowed Liverpool to regain their lead just before halftime.

Arsenal recovered quickly in the second half, with Henry initiating a play which led to Pires scoring another equalizer.

Incredibly, the score was pushed to 3-2 by Henry just a minute later with an extraordinary strike.

Henry overpowered Dietmar Hamann, before effortlessly sidestepping Jamie Carragher and Igor Biscan. He then slotted his shot beautifully into the bottom corner of the net, causing the ball to kiss the back of the net in a classic Henry finish.

The score now read 3-2.

The game was in Arsenal's pocket now.

The impressive Henry netted another goal late in the match, capping off an extraordinary performance. This was one of his 30 outstanding goals for the season 2003/04, securing Arsenal the Premier League championship with an unbeaten record.

What marked out this performance of Henry was how common it was during his eight years with Arsenal.

This was not an extraordinary performance like Andriy Arshavin's four goals at Anfield, or Maynor Figueroa's half-line goal against Stoke City, or the overhead kick by Sebastian Coates against QPR that everyone remembers. This hat-trick was what we expected from Henry.

Every Saturday night of the Premiership, broadcast by ITV, it was commonplace to see Henry achieving the impossible. This hat-trick was such an achievement for a mid-April week, and a few weeks later he scored four goals against Newcastle United.

A few weeks later, his 'impossible achievement' was leading his team in lifting the Premier League trophy, following an unbeaten run for the full 38-game season.

This consistency of exceptional performances is what set Henry apart as the finest player to ever play in the Premier League.