First Scotland! Then the World?

It has been quite sometime since Henrik Larsson looked like this, but oddly enough this is how I remember him most. Ok not in the Sweden shirt, but with his dreadlocks scoring goals in the green and white hooped top of Celtic. For those of you who don't know, Larsson announced his retirement yesterday. 2009 has already seen legends like Maldini, Figo, Nedved and Dean Windass, ok well the latter may not quite be a legend, hang up their boots, and now Henrik joins them.

In all senior levels of football one thing remains the same, the size of the net! So surely a goalscorer in one country could suggest he is a goalscorer in any country. Therefor a great goalscorer for, say Celtic, could claim to be a great goalscorer full stop, one of the best in the modern era.

But is it that simple? Can Larsson really be compared to the greats of today's game or does his extended time in the Scottish Premier League mean he can not really be compared to the Inzaghis and Shevchenkos of the world.

His main opponent in Scotland is that cheeky chappy Mr Ally McCoist. McCoist was at the heart of the Ranger's attack during their 9-in-a-row league winning sides. His record is 2nd to none, well it would be, he scored a goal every 1.66 games for the blues of Glasgow, not bad. But not Henrik, the Swede has a goal record of one every 1.3 games for Celtic. Oh yeah, he's also the top scorer ever in the SPL, so as far as Scottish football goes, he's a great!

It seems that most of Europe's best goalscorers in the modern era are linked by the fact that, in the main, they have scored most of their goals for one club. Shearer has Newcastle, van Nistelrooy has Manchester United, Shevchenko has Milan, Batistua
has Fiorentina, Inzaghi has Milan and Trezeguet has Juventus. You basically get the point that an extended period at one club equals more goals. It's the same with managers, consistency breeds success because you get used to the way player's around you play and eventually the team plays around you.

So can we really judge the dreadlocked (well he used to be) Swede for staying at one place, after all his contemporaries stuck around at one place for so long. Then again Inzaghi scored his goals against opposition such as Inter Milan and Roma, with players such as Fabio Cannavaro and Walter Samuel in defence. Larsson scored his goals against Aberdeed and Dundee, with players such as Jamie McAllister and Chris Coyne, I won't say anything too untoward about the latter two but you get the comparison.

So Larsson is a great goalscorer in Scotland, and it clearly attracted many clubs to him, the fact there is any debate suggests there is some reasoning to say he is one of the modern greats. Then there is Henrik's other clubs. He impressed enough at Celtic to earn him a shot at the big time with Barcelona. In his first season with the Catalan giants he picked up a serious injury and played just 10 league matches, although he did manage a Champions League goal against Celtic, uncelebrated of course. In season two for Barce he scored 13 goals in 40 matches, not a great strike rate but still enough goals to help win La Liga. But perhaps his best performance came in the Champions League final as a substitute against Arsenal, he came on with Barcelona 1-0 down and turned the game on its head supplying both his team's goals in a 2-1 victory. It led Ronaldinho to say "With Henrik leaving us at the end of the season this club is losing a great scorer, no question. But I am also losing a great friend. Henrik was my idol and now that I am playing next to him it is fantastic." and Thierry Henry to say "People always talk about Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Giuly and everything, but I didn't see them today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto'o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight." Not bad praise at all!

His performances for Barcelona led to them offering him a new contract, he turned it down, instead to go home to Helsinborg. The homecoming was put on hold, after playing for one of the world's biggest clubs another approached him as a loan signing for 3 months, Larsson was Premiership bound with Manchester United of all teams. He scored 3 goals in 13 matches in all competitions and picked up more silver wear with United winning the Premier league and asking for a medal for Larsson. Oh yeah he once again plagued former manager Martin O'Neil by scoring against Villa in the FA Cup.

So Henrik Larsson, a man who scored lots and lots of goals in Scotland. Who moved to Barceolna and won the La Liga and European Champions League and then moved to Manchester United and helped them win the English Premier league. A man who scored at 3 World Cups and was so inspirational to the Swedish team he was asked out of international retirement twice. A striker who's goal per game record is up there with the best and even better than some.

Yet the nagging feeling won't go away, would Larsson have scored so many in the peak of his career if he'd played in a top league. More to the point, when you chose a best 11 from the last decade would Larsson get in your team? For me the answer is no! Give me Raul and Henry up front any day and I'll be a very happy manager! On the other hand I'll never forget the young Swede running away in celebration, tongue sticking out, because goals are worth the same no matter what level of football! Take a bow son, take a bow!