New York Red Bulls young gun Juan Agudelo feels he will be best suited with Thierry Henry acting as a playmaking midfielder.
The pair played up front together for the first hour or so of the weekend's season-opening loss to FC Dallas before off-season signing Kenny Cooper came on to net a late consolation goal in the 2-1 result.
Agudelo indicated he was not 100% happy with the partnership with former Arsenal star Henry who he feels should be deployed a touch further up the pitch for the good of the team.
"I really enjoy having Henry as a sort of a midfield playmaker. That's what he enjoys and I think that's his best qualities. But when I have somebody next to me like [Kenny] Cooper, I think it helps us stretch the back line.""I feel it's tough being by myself at times because Henry likes to check in the middle," Agudelo told MLSsoccer.com after the match. "I felt like it was great when there were actually two forwards and Henry was able to check in the middle.
And head coach Hans Backe agrees with the 19-year old, suggesting that a two-man attacking line of Agudelo and Cooper will be better complimented with Henry pulling the strings.
"[Cooper] is a little bit more of a striker who runs the channels," Backe said. "He stretches the teams a little bit more than Thierry and Agudelo does. But it probably helps us a little bit to stretch them to get even better possession the last third."
