Henry's had Zidane, Bergkamp and Messi as teammates. Pick eleven from that lot and you're leaving out people who'd walk into anyone else's side.
Club teammates only, at the same time as Henry. That's why Desailly and Blanc aren't here.
Where Henry played
- Monaco, 1994 to 1999. Arsène Wenger gave him his debut, and he won Ligue 1 there in 1996/97.
- Juventus, 1999. In January, out by the summer.
- Arsenal, 1999 to 2007. Wenger again. He left as the club's record goalscorer.
- Barcelona, 2007 to 2010. The treble in 2008/09.
- New York Red Bulls, 2010 to 2014. He came back to Arsenal on loan in January 2012 and scored the winner against Leeds in the FA Cup on his first game back.
The XI (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Jens Lehmann
I went back and forth on this one. Lehmann played all 38 league games of the unbeaten 2003/04 season, and that season is the high point of Henry's club career, so he gets the gloves.
He's also part of the worst night of it. In the 2006 Champions League final in Paris, against Barcelona of all teams, Lehmann was sent off after 18 minutes. Puyol was in the Barcelona side that night. Henry was on the other end of it, a year before he joined them.
Right back: Dani Alves
Alves came from Sevilla in 2008 and had two seasons with Henry. The first was the treble, with Alves bombing on outside Messi all year. Thuram played with Henry at Monaco and Barcelona, which is a longer link, but at the Camp Nou he was mostly a centre half by then.
Centre backs: Sol Campbell and Carles Puyol
Campbell walked out of Tottenham on a free in 2001 and won the Double with Henry in his first season at Highbury. Then he did the whole unbeaten run.
Puyol captained the treble side. In the final in Rome, with Alves suspended, he moved out to right back so Yaya Touré and Piqué could play in the middle. He's a centre half here, and I'd want him beside Campbell over Piqué every time.
Left back: Ashley Cole
Cardiff, May 2002. Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup final, the first half of the Double, and Cole was at left back with Henry up front. Two years later he was on the left of the side that went the whole league season unbeaten, with Pires in front of him and Henry drifting over to join them.
Midfield: Xavi, Patrick Vieira, Andrés Iniesta
Vieira sits. He captained the Invincibles, and he's the one player in this side who'd happily spend 90 minutes kicking people so the rest can play.
Xavi plays on the right of the three, same as 2008/09, feeding Messi.
Arsenal fans will want Cesc here. He was 20 when Henry left and still a season or two off his best, and Xavi and Iniesta were already at that level. So he's out, and I know that'll annoy a few people at the Emirates.
Iniesta is where this team really gets argued about, because putting him in means leaving Zidane out. Zidane was at Juventus from 1996 to 2001, so they shared about six months in 1999. Henry spent most of that stuck out wide in Turin and was gone by August. Iniesta had three seasons with him and won everything going. I'll take Iniesta and accept the abuse.
Right forward: Lionel Messi
There's a case for putting Messi through the middle. Guardiola did it in the 6-2 at the Bernabéu in May 2009, with Eto'o pushed out wide, and Henry scored twice that night. I'd still leave him on the right. That's where he played most of that season, and Bergkamp needs the middle.
Centre forward: Dennis Bergkamp
You'll want Eto'o. He scored in two Champions League finals. Ibrahimović had a season at Barcelona with Henry and Trezeguet was at Monaco with him, and all three were better pure goalscorers than Bergkamp.
I've gone for Bergkamp anyway. He dropped into the hole, Henry ran off him, and for seven seasons nobody in England had a better pair up front. In this side he does that job for Messi and Pires.
Left forward: Robert Pires
Ronaldinho's the better footballer. I know. He and Henry only overlapped in 2007/08, though, a season where Ronaldinho was in and out of the side, and he was off to Milan that summer. Pires was the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2002 and had six seasons alongside Henry, swapping in and out of that left channel with him.
The bench
Seaman and Valdés in goal. Thuram, Abidal and Sylvinho at the back, Gilberto Silva in midfield, then Zidane, Ronaldinho and Eto'o up top.
The rest, club by club
At Monaco there was Barthez, Thuram, Emmanuel Petit and Trezeguet. Petit and Trezeguet were in the 1996/97 title squad. Thuram had gone to Parma the summer before.
Juventus had Zidane and Edgar Davids, Filippo Inzaghi up front, and Del Piero, who did his knee in late 1998 and missed most of Henry's short spell.
At the Red Bulls he played with Rafael Márquez and Tim Cahill, and Juninho Pernambucano had a spell there too.
A few followed him around. Petit and Gilles Grimandi went from Monaco to Arsenal. Sylvinho and Alexander Hleb were teammates in London and again at Barcelona. Márquez went from the Camp Nou to New York in 2010, the same year as Henry. Fàbregas made the Arsenal to Barcelona move as well, but in 2011, a year after Henry had gone.
How it plays
The right side is lifted straight from the treble team. Messi wide with Alves overlapping him, and Xavi inside. In 2008/09 Messi, Eto'o and Henry scored 100 goals between them, and a lot of them started down that side. On the left, Pires and Iniesta both drift infield, so Cole has the whole flank to run into.
The worry is both full backs going at once. When that happens Vieira has to drop between Campbell and Puyol, and you're relying on Xavi to screen. Against a quick counter that's a lot of grass. If you'd rather be safe, Gilberto in for Iniesta is a perfectly sensible change. I just wouldn't make it.
Quick answers
Did Henry play with Messi? Yes, at Barcelona from 2007 to 2010, including the 2008/09 treble.
Did Henry play with Zidane at club level? Yes, briefly, at Juventus in the first half of 1999.
Did Henry play with Ronaldinho? Yes, for one season at Barcelona, 2007/08.
Make your own
If you'd have Zidane in, or you're a Seaman man, the team builder lets you put your version together and see it framed. Prints are £99 at 12x16 in or £149 at 18x24 in, black or white frame, and you get a proof by email before anything is printed. If you'd rather have a real team, there are classic prints from £69 in the Arsenal, Barcelona and Juventus collections, or all classic prints.