Didier Drogba changed football tactics forever at Chelsea, but I’d still pick Arsenal icon Thierry Henry in dream team

Didier Drogba transformed the way that teams played with strikers, but Thierry Henry sneaks ahead of him in a dream team.

That’s the view of talkSPORT’s Troy Deeney as he reflected on two of the greatest forwards to have ever graced the Premier League.

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Chelsea and Arsenal, two of the biggest clubs in English football, have both boasted a plethora of attacking talent over the years.

Henry joined the Gunners in 1999 and won two Premier League titles alongside four Golden Boots, the joint-most with Mohamed Salah.

The former French international is ninth on the top flight’s all-time scoring list with 175 goals, a tally he reached in 258 appearances.

Drogba meanwhile won four league titles across two spells at Chelsea and collected two Golden Boots during his time in west London.

He is one of the greatest African talents to played Premier League football, and scored 104 goals in 254 outings.

Each player brought their own qualities to the table – whether it was Henry and his clinical finishing, or the physical presence of Drogba.

But when asked by talkSPORT.com who he would pick out of the two in a dream team, Deeney opted for Henry.

The former Premier League striker spoke ahead of the huge London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal on Sunday evening.

Henry or Drogba?

“I think the general consensus would be Thierry, because he could play anywhere across the front.

“Didier was just a beast, man. I’d have to go for Thierry.

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talkSPORT

“But that takes nothing away from Didier. I also think Didier Drogba changed the way we played with strikers.

“We used to have two [strikers], Drogba came in and it went to one. Everyone went to 4-3-3 off the back of Drogba coming in.”

How did Drogba change football tactics?

The traditional formation used by many teams was 4-4-2, where two strikers would lead the attack and have their eye on goal.

Duos such as Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole at Manchester United, and Henry and Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal, shone alongside each other.

However, when Drogba signed for Chelsea from Marseille in 2004, his legendary manager Jose Mourinho played him as a lone wolf.

Instead of playing off a striking partner, the Ivorian would utilise his physical presence to link up with his midfield or wide teammates.

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It brought along the popular use of the 4-3-3, or even 4-5-1, with Drogba becoming what many considered to be a ‘complete striker’.

Chelsea were the beneficiaries of this as Drogba turned into one of their greatest players in history.

He was at the heart of many iconic moments, including his winning penalty in the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Is Henry the Premier League’s greatest ever?

With a scoring average of one goal every 0.68 matches, there’s little surprise when Henry gets lauded as a Premier League icon.

He also totalled 74 assists, taking him to 249 goal contributions in the league alone for Arsenal across nine seasons.

Speaking to talkSPORT earlier this year, former Liverpool and United striker Michael Owen recalled the impact that Henry made.

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“I got into the Premier League at 17 and won the Golden Boot, and then won it again at 18.

“And then Thierry Henry came over and I looked at him and thought, ‘I’m never going to win one of those again’.

“Those players were just wow, how do you compete?”

Owen was then asked if Henry is the greatest Premier League player of all-time, and simply answered: “Yes – Thierry Henry.”