Are there still people out there who don’t rate Hendo? Yeah, probably. It’s always going to be that way. I mean, if he hasn’t won his critics over by now then he never will.
He had a good season but it seemed like any time we had a bad result he came in for the most stick. Ok, not quite true, but he was often lumped in the scapegoat group with Mignolet, Moreno and Lovren, which was grossly unfair to him. The others often deserved to be in there, but Hendo is not in that category.
For all the talk of him not being good enough or not being a natural holding player, he captained us to a Champions League final and he’s ‘unofficially’ captained England to the World Cup semis (Kane has the armband but everyone can see who the leader on the pitch is). Not bad for someone who many don’t think is that good.
Klopp gets tetchy whenever he has to defend his players. He’s used to it having continually had to field questions about Moreno, Lovren, Karius and Mignolet. He doesn’t like it, but in those cases you at least know that he understands why he’s being asked about them.
Yet when he’s asked about criticism of Henderson he looks utterly bemused, incredulous even. Sometimes he’ll look to the press officer to check he’s heard it right, and then he’ll say “Really?”. You can tell he has nothing but contempt for the suggestion that Henderson isn’t good enough or isn’t the leader we need.
Sure, we could upgrade on Henderson and maybe we have already with Fabinho. The point is, there aren’t too many better at what he does and he isn’t appreciated anywhere near as much as he ought to be. Perhaps because of that, there are some who go too far in the other direction.
The truth lies somewhere in between. Jordan Henderson is not a great player but he is a very good one. Top class, but not world class. He's getting there though.
Part of the problem he has is that for him to stand out he really needs the attacking players to be on their game. He’s a great complimentary piece who lays the platform for others to shine. He’s not going to win games for us and you won’t see him picking the ball up, driving forward and banging one in from 30 yards.
Yeah, I suppose I’m saying “he’s not Steven Gerrard”. Who is though? Case in point, Hendo was fucking brilliant when we destroyed Roma at Anfield. Everyone could see the job he did that night. In the final though, he was quiet, subdued, not very influential.
How much of that was him just not playing well, and how much was the loss of Salah and the fact we were struggling to get anything going in attack? I’d say it was both. It was difficult for him, especially as the team seemed to be feeling sorry for themselves for a good while after Mo went off, but at the same time he’s the captain and it’s his job to ensure that doesn’t happen.
The biggest issue I had with him that night was that the antic of Ramos went unpunished. You can’t let an opposing player take the kind of liberties that Ramos did. Someone has to do something, as it starts with the captain. I know he’s not Graeme Souness or Tommy Smith, but I expect to see SOMETHING from him in that situation.
Overall it’s a minor gripe in the big picture. He’s been a fine captain because he sets a great example with his work ethic and professionalism, and he takes an interest in all of his team-mates and seems a popular figure with them.
Good footballer, good captain, good player to have around.
Best Moment:
His performance against Roma.
Worst Moment:
Not sorting Ramos out in the final.
Rating:
8/10. Solid season marred slightly by a few below par displays.
The Future?
I'm curious to see how it all shakes out in midfield this season. Fabinho is a specialist ‘6’ so Hendo will be splitting time with him. When he’s not in that role he’ll be competing for one of the two box to box spots, but we’ve got a lot of options there and it’s going to be tough, especially as Naby will surely have one of those slots nailed down.
My gut feeling is that Henderson is still an important player but barring an injury crisis in midfield he’ll play less games this season than he’s used to. It isn't a reflection on him, it's just a natural consequence of building a strong squad.
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