2018/19 Season Report Card - Jordan Henderson

I love Jordan Henderson. Not to the extreme where I'll tell you he's the best midfielder in the world. I may love him, but I'm not blinkered to the point of delusion. He's really good though, much better than many give him credit for. Some of our own fans are the worst for that too. Hopefully that might change now he's a European Cup winning captain, but I won't hold my breath on that.

I googled Hendo's name just then as I was looking for some stats on appearances and stuff. When you do a search it comes up with a box that says "people also ask". The top one said "What does Jordan Henderson do". What does he do? WHAT DOES HE DO???? He captains the European Champions, that's what he fucking does.

To be fair, I couldn't care less what fans of other teams think of him. If Spurs fans want to convince themselves Eric Dier deserves to be ahead of Hendo in the England pecking order, have at it. I'm not arsed. If Everton fans think Andre Gomes is better, good for them. I don't care if the rest of the country can't see what he brings to a team. When our own fans are among the critics though, that's a different matter.

The unwarranted sneering about our skipper just makes me feel overly protective of him. I expect it from rival fans and it's fair game. With the amount of piss taking I do about rival players, it would be a little precious of me to get upset about them throwing shade at Hendo. It irks me when I see the lack of respect towards him from our own fans, although it's almost exclusively on social media it should be said.

It’s a weird phenomena because barring the occasional moan and groan here and there, he doesn’t get that kind of treatment from the matchday crowd. The 'LFC family' on Twitter though? Different story entirely. Usually the overall perception of a player doesn’t vary too much from stadium to social media but in Hendo’s case the difference is huge.

I don't think anyone has ever split opinion more, and I genuinely don't get it. I mean how can you watch Jordan Henderson play and think he's not a good player? Just how good he is comes to down to personal opinion. I probably rate him more highly than most but there will be others who think even more of him than I do. 

It blows my mind though that there are people who watch Henderson and think he's just an average player who only passes backwards and sideways. I know he's not Souness or Gerrard, but if that's the bar being set for all of our midfielders now then they'll all fall short. 

Those of you who don't spend too much time on social media probably think I'm exaggerating here, but I'm honestly not.

Have a look at the replies to this tweet from This is Anfield. That's typical of any Henderson related tweet. 

The replies to this official announcement by the club were even worse. 

When he signed that new deal earlier in the season, I looked at the replies to the above tweet and I wanted to go on a fucking killing spree. People were reacting like he was Christian Poulsen or Salif Diao. I used to think the criticism directed towards him was basically because he isn’t Steven Gerrard. Now I think it’s just that some people are clueless.

Jordan Henderson is a damn good player and is a much better leader than he’s generally given credit for. He wouldn’t still be captain if he wasn’t. Unless you think Klopp is an idiot.

It's true that he got the armband more or less by default because there was no-one else even remotely qualified at the time, but there are plenty who are qualified now. We’ve got leaders all over the place, but listen to how his team-mates (and manager) talk about him and it’s clear how well respected he is. He’s grown into the captaincy. Many fans would like to see Van Dijk given the captaincy, but Big Virg has been as complimentary about Hendo's leadership as anybody.

The players know more than we do. They're in that dressing room every day with him. During the on-pitch celebrations after the final, Van Dijk and Lovren walked Hendo over to the fans and Lovren was screaming "This is your captain, this is the fucking man". 

It would be nice to think that some of the entitled wankers who were ripping Hendo in the above tweets will have come around now, but it's wishful thinking. As soon as he has a poor game next season they'll all crawl out of the woodwork again. No matter, there are more than enough Henderson fans to drown out that noise now, and he's got a Champions League winners medal to point to any time he wants to silence his critics. He wouldn't do that though, it's not his style.

I do feel that he's validated his captaincy now though. Lifting the European Cup and captaining a side that finished with 97 points is surely enough to end that discussion now? 

The only problem for Hendo moving forward is that he’s not guaranteed to start every game anymore. That’s not even a reflection on him either, it’s more about the competition for places and Klopp’s policy of rotating his midfield more than any other area of the team. The demands on the midfield lads are huge so Klopp will often freshen things up and bring in fresh legs. That means someone is always going to miss out.

In the Nou Camp it was Hendo. In the return leg it was Wijnaldum. In the final it was Milner. It’s not a reflection on the players, just a necessity based on how we play. It's going to be even worse for them next season with Ox now back in the fold and Naby hopefully up to speed after a season of transition.

Henderson at least has his versatility to fall back on. Being able to play more than one role helps, but unfortunately for him he isn't the only flexible option Klopp has. Wijnaldum and Milner are like Swiss army knives. Fabinho will almost certainly start all the big games, so that leaves two other spots up for grabs. Right now, for me at least, it's Henderson plus one more. That could change, but based on the way he's played in the last few months I don't think you can leave him out in the bigger games.

I wonder if we have seen the last of him in the holding role though. He has spent most of his time under Klopp playing in that role and generally did a good job there. Most of the time he was excellent but there were occasions when he wasn’t, and on those days when he wasn’t at his best Twitter would be awash with the Hendo bashers calling for him to be moved on. I like him in the holding role, but I like him more when he's got licence to run around and make things happen.

Fabinho won't play every game but when he is rested it may not be the skipper asked to fill in for him now. Wijnaldum is great in that role, and using him there allows Hendo to continue doing what he does best. 

It seems like Jordan has spent his entire career fighting to prove people wrong, and that's why it was so satisfying seeing him lifting the trophy. I was happier for him than I was for anyone else (other than perhaps Klopp). He was probably doubted even back in his Sunderland days but certainly from the moment he walked through the door here he was having to deal with criticism and questions as to whether he was good enough. For a long while those questions were justified, but they haven't been for some time now.

It took him a while to win over the fans and in some cases he still hasn’t and probably never will. That's on them, not him. Tell you what else is boss. He's a hero in Sunderland too. Their fans are buzzing for him and apparently he's in line to be awarded the freedom of the city. That's great, brings a warm glow to the soul. Usually when a player leaves a club for bigger and better things he's not too popular, but Hendo is such a top lad they still have a place in their hearts for him up there.

Managers love him too, because he’s utterly selfless and it’s ‘team first’ all the time. Rodgers tried to get rid of him when he first took over but by the end of Brendan’s time here Hendo was his captain and very much in the ‘he's a wonderful boy, a beautiful human being’ category. Klopp feels the same. He fucking loves Hendo.

You can always tell just how much disdain Klopp has got for Henderson’s critics by his reaction whenever he is questioned about it. “Jurgen, Jordan Henderson has come in for some criticism lately, but…” Cue Jurgen pulling that baffled ‘what the fuck are you on about?’ face.

Klopp even apologised (tongue in cheek) a couple of months ago for having played Henderson out of position for so long. For the most part it worked, but any time the midfield unit didn't function as well as it needed to, it was usually Hendo who took the brunt of the blame. 

For me though the problem was more about the balance of the players selected rather than any individual. Klopp often went with the tried and trusted trio of Hendo, Milner and Gini, and at times it worked brilliantly, usually because the forwards were all on fire. Other occasions, when the forwards weren't on it, the midfield looked one paced and lacking creativity. Draws at Old Trafford and Goodison spring to mind, as well as some woeful Euro aways in the group stages. 

In games like that, it's easy to point the finger at Henderson for not providing any drive or creativity. It became even easier to do it when we discovered how great Fabinho was. Even Hendo himself saw that, which is why he went to see Klopp and discussed a change of position. He knew Fabinho was better than him as a six, so he asked Klopp to allow him to go back to being what he was before.

Klopp agreed and the box to box, chase around like a dog in a park Hendo that played such a big part in the 2014 title challenge was back for the closing months of this season and he just so looked so much happier. There was a real enthusiasm about his play and he was hugely influential. It started when he came off the bench to score and assist in a win at Southampton. We'd been struggling a bit and his arrival changed the game completely.

After that he was on fire, and looked so much more energised and refreshed than when he was playing as the six. That was not a natural position for him but he’s the type of lad who just does what is asked of him without complaint. He sacrificed his own game for the good of the team which is part of the reason why I’m often so protective of him. Being a great lad doesn’t mean you can’t be questioned, but it does mean you should be granted a certain level of respect from your own fans. 

This season has been massive for Henderson's reputation and standing in the game, and it showed the character he possesses. I mean come on, let’s be honest here. When Fabinho and Keita joined last summer, Hendo was as much under threat as anyone. They hadn’t been signed to sit on the bench and if they turned out to be the players we thought they’d be then that only left one midfield spot up for grabs and Hendo, Wijnaldum, Milner and Lallana (Ox too when he returned) fighting for it.

Not for the first time, Henderson was being written off. Not for the first time, he rose to the challenge. Having been at the World Cup with England, he was given extra time off and wasn’t due to report back until just before the season. He was having none of it though and Klopp had to force him to stay away. In the end he came back early anyway as he was so insistent. I think he had two weeks off, and even that was more than he wanted.

He wasn’t in the starting line up on the opening day, but he came on in the second half and was like a man possessed. He was on the bench for the next three games too, and each time he came on he played with the intensity of a man who wanted to show his manager he was ready to start. Klopp handled it well though, resisting the temptation to rush him back and treating the first few weeks as a pre-season of sorts for him. 

That careful approach paid dividends as some of his performances in the latter months of the season were as good as anything we’ve seen from him. He’s in the form of his life and particularly shone on the big European nights. He was great in those games last season too actually. European sides can’t cope with the speed and intensity we play at and Henderson is a big part of that. 

Barca at Anfield is a perfect example. That was probably the finest display of his life, a performance to sit alongside those of any of the legendary names of the past. A real career defining game that was. He was immense, especially as he was injured early on and had to stock up on painkillers at half time just to get through the game. Seeing him collapse at full time and then struggle to get back on his feet because he had nothing left... I mean how can you not love this lad after that?

Then of course there was the final. The scenes with his Dad at full time would bring tears to a glass eye, but it was also revealed later that he asked Milner and Klopp to lift the trophy with him. They both rightly refused, but that’s just about as Jordan Henderson as it gets. Even in the most defining moment of his career he’s still thinking “there’s no I in team”.

Captain. Leader. And now, finally, Legend.

Rating 8/10.

Had he played the whole season in the more advanced role he ended it in, he'd have been a 9. Still, overall a fine effort from the skipper and a season he can be proud of.

Best Moment: 

Lifting Big Ears. I don't know if anyone has ever done it better. Years of practice in front of the mirror had gone into that, you could tell.

Worst Moment:

For him personally it was probably being left out in the Nou Camp, but he ended up playing most of the game anyway after Keita was hurt early on. Maybe going off injured early away at Bayern was a low point for him, but thankfully it wasn't as serious as it looked.

The Future:

I expect next year to be a lot like this one. He'll play more often than not but be left out more than he'll like.