Henry stands by MLS

New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry has defended Major League Soccer against critics who have attacked the standard of the league.

The former Arsenal and Barcelona striker has just finished his second season with the Red Bulls, a club for which he has scored 17 goals from 41 appearances.

And the former France international, who has been named in the MLS team of the year, believes that critics of the American top flight are not paying the league the respect it deserves.

“People have the right to think what they want about MLS,” Henry said. “Of course, it’s not the same as watching Barcelona against Real Madrid but we know that and we will not lie.”

“But we have good players as you could see, they are good teams in this league. If you watch Salt Lake, they’re a team who play good football, a difficult team, they have good players.”

The 34-year-old Henry added that he still has a hunger to win trophies with the Red Bulls.

“I am here to do my best to win the games and that’s it,” he said. “Then, what people think is not a big problem for me, because I know when I do something I do it trying to win, sometimes it’s not enough but I really try to do my best.”