There are few players who have changed soccer the way Thierry Henry has during his 20-year career. He will retire as the greatest goalscorer in French history if not the world. Henry brought his talents to Major League Soccer in 2010 and while his individual talent never lacked, his contributions to his team and MLS fell decidedly short.

He netted 51 goals with the New York Red Bulls in his four and a half seasons seasons, and led the team in total points every year. New York made the playoffs every year with Henry and every year they lost in the quarterfinals, except in 2014 when they lost in the Eastern Conference Championship.

Henry was two-time MLS Best XI selection and a four-time All-Star. At 37, he was still a dominant presence on the pitch.

Henry’s individual ability is beyond reproach. He was incredible. The Red Bulls announced that he would not be returning to the club in 2015. Though there’s the potential for Henry to emerge at a different club in 2015, that club won’t be in MLS and so many are reflecting on what Henry did for the league during his tenure.

For all of the individual honors and achievement, Henry failed MLS as a whole on a certain level.

The Red Bulls made him the highest paid player in the league in 2012. That was the year David Beckham took a pay cut after winning the 2011 MLS Cup. After taking the cut, Beckham and L.A. won MLS Cup for the second consecutive year.

New York has never won an MLS Cup, with or without Henry. Where Beckham was able to forge a dominant on-field relationship with his teammates, Red Bull cycled through a litany of players, searching for the right combination for Henry. Bradley Wright-Phillips, Fabian Espindola, Tim Cahill, Dax McCarty, Joel Lindpere, Kenny Cooper, Luke Rodgers, Dwayne De Rosario, and Juan Agudelo all attempted to exist in the Henry universe. Some, like Wright-Phillips flourished, but many more did not.

Henry isn’t responsible for all of those shortcomings, and certainly deserves a tremendous amount of credit for Wright-Phillips prolific 2014 season. At the same time, there’s a personal accountability that Henry never embraced when Red Bull fell short of an MLS Cup.

Contrast the impact Henry made on New York to that of Jermaine Jones, who has played 10 games for the New England Revolution. Jones has lost just once in his MLS career, embraced the role given to him in Jay Heaps’ lineup, and found a way to enhance the ability of the existing team. Jones didn’t attempt to install his own tactics with the team. He hasn’t tried to elevate himself or be something he isn’t, even though fresh off a dazzling World Cup performance you wouldn’t fault him if he did. Jones has played his part and the Revolution will play for an MLS Cup this weekend.

The playoffs are a precarious tightrope. Seldom does the best team in the regular season find itself winning a championship at the end of the season. It’s often a matter of who gets hot at the end of the year, and the Red Bulls have never been that team. It’s possible to chalk it up to bad luck and circumstance.

What can’t be excused is Henry’s refusal to play on turf. Henry never played a match at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, Vancouver’s BC Place, and until Saturday New England’s Gillette Stadium because they all used field turf. Henry has maintained throughout his time in MLS his reasons for not playing on turf stem from a wish to avoid injury to his Achilles tendons.

It’s an incredible statement. Sitting out four years of matches because of injury concerns, real or manufactured, sends a clear message to one’s teammates about what you value.

Much of Henry’s strength on the pitch came from his ability to be ruthless around the goal. He was greedy and merciless, and because of that he became the world’s greatest striker. But his greatest strength was also his greatest flaw in MLS.

At the end of the day, Henry played for Henry. Not for the Red Bulls, not for MLS, and not for the fans. It was his prerogative and his right. Henry fulfilled his contract, scored incredible goals, and dazzled American fans with his talent.

But he didn’t do any of it for MLS or for the American game.