I think the distinction between 'peaks' and general quality is worth making here. Henry is undoubtedly a better footballer than Van Persie IMO. Ronaldo too. Those two go down as better players. But I think Van Persie's peak beats Henry's peak. Henry had better players to work with whereas, at many times in the past 18 months, it has been Van Persie who has had to carry the team under difficult circumstances. As a goalscorer he has been truly phenomenal in 2011 (and the start of this year). Henry's peak was probably this time 8 years ago but I think Van Persie - for about 4/5 months this season - reached a level that perhaps even Henry didn't.
Make no mistake, we might be geared up to assist Van Persie well (and Theo and others do give him chances...he doesn't create everything out of thin air like he did against Everton) but we would be absolutely nowhere near 3rd without a player even half as good as Van Persie. Looking at the overall impact - as a player and as a captain, I think his peak has been higher. But, as others have said, Henry was far more consistent over 5 years and that makes him a greater player overall.
