Farewell to Thierry Henry: Saying goodbye to the Premier League's greatest striker

Retirement, at its core, should be a celebration. 

A time to reflect back on everything accomplished during a wonderful and, ideally, lengthy career. A time to appreciate. Tuesday, all of those elements were out in full force as Arsenal legend Thierry Henry announced that he is hanging up his boots for good to assume a position with Sky Sports.

For a select few, such an announcement is accompanied by a profound sadness - the kind that overtook the football world in the aftermath of the 37 year old's revelation. 

Legends can have that effect. For the greatest striker to ever grace the English game, the feeling is amplified. The tidal wave of reaction of former teammates, peers and everyone in between says it all.

Alan Shearer scored goals. More than Henry. More, in fact, than any Premier League player in history with 260. Andy Cole (187) and Wayne Rooney (178) also sit higher on the EPL scoring mountain. Frank Lampard tied Henry for fourth on the all-time list this past weekend with his 175th marker, and should soon surpass him as well.

Numbers matter. (He has those, too, by the way - Henry's 226 goals are the most in Arsenal history). Accolades matter. With two EPL titles and three FA Cups, you know where this is going.

But Henry - a World Cup winner (1998) who spent time at Monaco and Juventus before arriving in north London in 1999 - was more than just those numbers and trophies. To see the French star, in his prime, pick up the ball on the left wing and glide towards the penalty area, skipping beyond defenders as they mustered up the courage to oppose him, was to witness elegance personified in a footballer.

It's no coincidence that the best attackers in the Premier League today are more Henry than Shearer. More beauty than brawn. The modern EPL striker wants to be Henry-reincarnate. And with good reason.

There was that goal against Manchester United. You know, the one you've tried to imitate thousands of times at your local pitch. It never works quite as well though, does it? Maybe you are one of the lucky ones to execute the flick properly. Still, the ball never hangs in the air before dipping under the bar, like it was attached to a string. Only Henry could do that.

There was that Champions League match, in 2006, when he carved through Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, exhibiting his blend of pace, power, control and finishing that made him one of the very best.

He would return to the scene of that splendid crime three years later, this time as a member of Barcelona, and do it all over again.

But Henry will always be remembered as being synonymous with Arsenal. Fitting, then, that his most memorable moment was the pinnacle of what has become the Gunners' greatest success.

The Invincibles would be a nothing more than an interesting concept without the Frenchman. Something that could happen one day. Maybe. Henry, with some help, made it so.

Ask the man himself, though, and you may be surprised at his favorite memory with the club's crest draped over his heart,

Upon his fabled return to the club for a brief loan spell in 2012, Henry wrote the final chapter of his Arsenal memoir on a frigid January evening against Leeds in the FA Cup.

"I played in some big games for Arsenal, Barcelona, France, Juve, Monaco ... nothing will ever top that night for me," Henry told the BBC.

"I really thought I was in a dream. I remember staying in the dressing room for two hours just contemplating. To score a goal again for Arsenal was out of this world."

That celebration will be ingrained in the memory of Gooners everywhere. Today's celebration - much like that powerful, emotional one two years ago - will long outlive the sadness of his departure.