Jordan Henderson, MBE: World Club Cup, European Cup, European Super Cup, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup & Charity Shield Winning Captain of Liverpool (and massive sellout)

[stringvest]

Modern day Ronnie Whelan in how fans see and rate him. Not how they play.

I don’t think so. Whelan was a class act on the pitch, and is regarded as such by most people who saw him play over the years. He played lots of different positions for successive and successful Liverpool teams. He played deeper as age caught up with him, but he was never flustered on the ball.

[stringvest]

Genuine question, if Henderson is always hiding, why is he so highly thought of by his manager and teammates?

Genuine question. Is he?

[Tony Moanero]

Genuine question. Is he?

It would seem so. I can’t be bothered searching for them but various interviews that I’ve heard support this theory.

 

Obviously, I don’t watch us anymore, but my dad is still a season ticket holder and I still speak to him about football. Well, he mostly speaks at me. I mentioned to him that some on here are of the opinion that Henderson hides in games and he was genuinely baffled. All about opinions I guess. Always was, always will be.

[Pidge]

Played all right yesterday, focused mainly on making himself available to back up Gomez in the first half (both as the outlet pass when he went forward and covering him on the way back), while Milner had a bit more to do wiping Moreno's arse.  Faded again in the second with Milner moving that side to make more use of the space behind the West Brom left back (should have brought Trent on instead of Lovren, Gomez was knackered and the extra pace to run at Evans alongside Chamberlain would have kept them deep), until the equaliser when he tried to drive the team forward again.

 

Milner is a more attacking player and has had a long career of achievements that goes some way to proving he's a better player overall, but I don't see how that is to Henderson's discredit or how it's a zero-sum game between them.

 

West Brom played two up front but Rodriguez played quite deep a lot of the time, partially with a view to the late run onto Rondon's knock downs (but Virgil had his number for most of the game so he was feeding on scraps) but also putting him in the same space as Henderson meaning we didn't play out through him as much as we normally would.  You can talk about passivity, but the whole team was pretty passive for much of the game (didn't get out of second gear really, first half was especially tame) and Henderson was, like quite a few, conserving his energy - which was clearly the gameplan with the sun beating down on them - and if it wasn't for a couple of tired mistakes at the end that would have worked fine.

 

Guaranteed starter on Tuesday, on merit.

[Jairzinho]

Being a guaranteed starter in our midfield doesn't say much though.

 

Lallana - Always injured, often flatters to deceive, and has looked like a player that retired five years ago in his few appearances this season.

 

Can - Thick, inconsistent, and wants away.

 

Wijnaldum - The worst of the lot. Complete waste of space.

 

AOC - Has grown into the role well. Just showing a bit of bottle and drive has made him stand out in our midfield.

 

Milner - the only actual man in our midfield. Played very well this season, but clearly he can't be a long term option.

 

Then Henderson. Neat and tidy. Conservative in his passing. Still occasionally does the utterly useless chipped balls into the box. Still doesn't have anything like the presence to be captain. Works hard. Does what he's told. He should be a squad player. A player that can give you a 6.5/10 performance almost every week.

 

Even with Keita coming in we need at least one more. Wijnaldum, Can, and Lallana, for differing reasons, need to, or will, be moved on.

[JohnnyH]

I don’t think so. Whelan was a class act on the pitch, and is regarded as such by most people who saw him play over the years. He played lots of different positions for successive and successful Liverpool teams. He played deeper as age caught up with him, but he was never flustered on the ball.

You’re airbrushing history there. Whelan was more often then not given abuse by the Kop. He was seen, wrongly, as the weak ink because he didn’t do the spectacular. Once he finished he was respected, but the crap he got in his playing days was laughable. Similar to Henderson now.

[Grinch]

Two more for me and it's actually quite exciting now that Klopp has us so fucking good but still so easily improved in the summer.

[Bob]

Except it is not nonsense and it is factual. Lets look at a couple of examples of how people see players different shall we.

 

van Dijk has bolstered the defence since he came in no question. Yet in the first minute against city he is wailing for a foul for the merest touch. He continues to ask the ref for the foul but theref is having none of it. He loses possession and City score. The OP did not go on about van Dijk panicking or showing leadership yet hold this up about Henderson. Look at Milner. He can give the ball away numerous times but people say what a great player he is. Henderson misplaces one pass and he is a shyster of the highest order.

 

This crap about the game being different is utter utter crap. You still retain possession because without it you aint scoring. It is so laughable people saying the game is different. The backpass rule is only that a keeper cannot pick the ball up. This shite about the back pass is united inspired crap saying they won 13 titles without the back pass. Bollocks they did. They pass back all the time.

What has van dijk against city got to do with this. I don’t think anyone thought he wasn’t at fault. Some thought Marius shouldn’t have given him the ball, some thought it was a foul, but everyone thought he fucked up, didn’t they, at least in part?

 

But either way, I’m talking about Henderson.

 

And the game has changed massively since whelan. You can say it hasn’t, but you’re wrong.

 

I watched a replay on our 86 cup final win about 6 years ago with some spare time on my hands. I was 5 then, and have seen highlight but hadn’t watched the whole game. I found a lot of it to actually be hard to watch because the pace of the game was so slow, and it was back to the keeper more than I had expected.

 

If you don’t think it’s changed, watch that first leg against Man City, then immediately watch a match from the 80’s. Chalk and cheese.

 

Anyway, I don’t think Henderson is anything like good enough and never have. I’m not wrong or right, it’s an opinion, and while I’m always happy to have my opinion changed, nothing in several years has made me, so I don’t expect I ever will on this one.

[Carvalho Diablo]

My opinion of Hendo hasn't changed in the 5 years he's been with us, he runs around (and points a lot) but wtf else does he do ?

 

He creates zero and he's not especially good defensively either. Mr 6 out of 10, Ready Salted, sadly both perfect nicknames for the lad. Likeable but wholly unremarkable, and he shouldn't ever be mentioned in the same breath as Ronnie Whelan.

[stringvest]

What has van dijk against city got to do with this. I don’t think anyone thought he wasn’t at fault. Some thought Marius shouldn’t have given him the ball, some thought it was a foul, but everyone thought he fucked up, didn’t they, at least in part?

 

But either way, I’m talking about Henderson.

 

And the game has changed massively since whelan. You can say it hasn’t, but you’re wrong.

 

I watched a replay on our 86 cup final win about 6 years ago with some spare time on my hands. I was 5 then, and have seen highlight but hadn’t watched the whole game. I found a lot of it to actually be hard to watch because the pace of the game was so slow, and it was back to the keeper more than I had expected.

 

If you don’t think it’s changed, watch that first leg against Man City, then immediately watch a match from the 80’s. Chalk and cheese.

 

Anyway, I don’t think Henderson is anything like good enough and never have. I’m not wrong or right, it’s an opinion, and while I’m always happy to have my opinion changed, nothing in several years has made me, so I don’t expect I ever will on this one.

 

 

Cup finals were and are almost always slow games - they come at the end of a long season for both clubs, and are usually played in very warm conditions.  

[El Rojo]

I thought he was great in the first leg against City. More of that please, Jordan.

 

Whatever about people’s agendas or views on here, Jurgen seems genuinely baffled whenever his value is questioned, so I don’t think he’ll be leaving any time soon.

[Tony Moanero]

And the game has changed massively since whelan. You can say it hasn’t, but you’re wrong.

 

I watched a replay on our 86 cup final win about 6 years ago with some spare time on my hands. I was 5 then, and have seen highlight but hadn’t watched the whole game. I found a lot of it to actually be hard to watch because the pace of the game was so slow, and it was back to the keeper more than I had expected.

.

You found it hard to watch?

 

Really?

 

I would choose a 70s/80s cup final over a modern game every time. I used to own most of them video and watched them over and over again. 1974, 1981, 1986, 1987, etc. Absolutely fantastic.

[3 Stacks]

A page of clueless shite about Henderson.

 

Klopp demands he plays first time balls. It’s vital to how we play and Henderson is Klopps go-to player for that. It’s a nightmare job for a player because you’ll give away more than you’ll keep, but Henderson does it about as well as any.

 

And accusing him of hiding is just laughable. That doesn’t even deserve a response it’s so daft.

 

If Henderson is replaced with a new signing, it’ll be a hell of a player. Therefore I hope he is, as it’ll make us sensational. It’s not Kieta who’s replacing him as he’ll have a very different job to do.

 

Henderson is our modern day Ronnie Whelan. Loads of fans haven’t a clue what he does so think he’s not good enough. They are wrong.

 

This is condescending. I think most supporters know that as the deepest midfielder, he is mostly tasked with playing it simple. And that's a good thing because he's not adept at passing it through the lines or at playing under pressure. 

 

Given his recent injury woes and his middling level for the past 6 years, it would be relatively easy to upgrade on Henderson if we're willing to spend the money. 

[TheHowieLama]

Tremenderson tonight -- keep it up 

[TheHowieLama]

HENDO!

[Greycellgreen]

.

[Red74]

Played well tonight

[Red House]

Possibly his best performance in a red shirt. Nainggolan is an exceptional footballer, but Hendo did a brilliant job minimizing his influence on the game.

[Bob]

I’ve never hidden my feelings about him, and how much he frustrates me, but there’s no doubting he was fantastic tonight.

[mattyq]

Quality tonight

[Captain]

Sign up that Nainggolan lad and put Henderson on the bench.

[3 Stacks]

If his game could be summed up by a boxing match vs. Nainggolan tonight, he would've won every single round but the first and last. I thought he ate him alive in the duel almost all game, which is very impressive. 

[Hand Shandy]

Henderson doesn't do anything, but we keep winning when he's playing.

 

It must be some kind of statistical anomaly.

[Aventus]

Henderson doesn't do anything, but we keep winning when he's playing.

 

It must be some kind of statistical anomaly.

Yep, I stopped slagging him off as soon as I noticed this.

 

He's doing something off the ball that we aren't clever enough to notice, but obviously Klopp is.

Because on the ball all I ever see is passive passes, but like you said, when he's on the pitch we play better.

[dockers_strike]

Hendo does not give the ball away anywhere near as much as oone or two other players I could mention do. Oh but he is always passing it back. Nope no more than any other player and he was keeping possession which is what a lot of people were screaming the team should have been doing in the last 15 minutes.