There are few players who define a generation as adroitly as Thierry Henry, the man who reinvented what it meant to be a striker in England
A-Z
A celebration of These Football Times’ writers’ favourite stars of the 2000s, from Alonso and Kaka to Zidane and Henry.
Some people will argue Guti should be nowhere near this list, but they miss the point of what he was: the most bafflingly brilliant footballer of his era
To this day “Luís Figo pig head” is the first search suggested by Google when you type his name. It’s a shame. He was greater than that, far greater
The greatest son of his nation and a true African legend, Samuel Eto’o would forge a unique path to immortality at Barcelona in 2000s
Over the course of the 2000s, how strikers played changed vastly, and much of this was down to the attributes Didier Drogba brought to his game
Through his rise above adversity, Iker Casillas can instigate a change in one’s perception of greatness, which suggests a talent worth celebrating
Despite his near-misses, when leading men, when redefining a role and offering hope where none was to be found, Michael Ballack was king
The owner of an absorbent footballing brain, Xabi Alonso would become one of the world’s most perceptive and intelligent midfielders in the 2000s