"Too good"; Thierry Henry delivers verdict on Odsonne Edouard's Celtic spell

By John McGinley

September 27, 2021

French football legend Thierry Henry has insisted that former Celtic star Odsonne Edouard was too good for the Scottish Premiership when providing analysis on Sky Sports tonight.

Edouard started for Crystal Palace against Brighton in the English Premier League, with Henry providing analysis in the Monday Night Football studio.

Reviewing clips of Edouard’s time at Celtic, Henry told Sky Sports: “He’s a natural finisher. You see him here, in a derby, as soon as his midfielders get the ball he wants to go in behind.

“He is not interested in controlling it. He will swivel and try and shoot. Same again here, he could have taken the ball, but he’s not interested. Let me get into the box, I swivel, and the ball goes in between the legs of the defender.

“He’s in the box doing what he does best, scoring goals. My only question mark was when he is playing in Scotland, was can he do it in the bigger league. No disrespect to the league in Scotland, but he was too good for that league.”

I think most would acknowledge Henry is right to talk up the striker’s ability here. Edouard achieved everything in Scotland and proved he was a cut above most players in the division.

The Scottish league is better than most give it credit for, but when young players with the ability of Edouard reach a certain ceiling, it’s natural to see them head off elsewhere.

His form in the final 12 months may not have been as good as his initial offerings, but there are reasons for that.

Like Virgil van Dijk, Moussa Dembele and Kieran Tierney, Edouard now has a good chance to go on and prove himself at a higher level. I hope he does that.

If you’re wondering how he got on against Brighton, he wasn’t at his sparkling best, but still effective within the Palace unit. He was substituted off in the 70th minute with Palace 1-0 up in the game at the time.

In other news, English club use hilarious Celtic moment against rivals in viral online clip.