Jordan Henderson - what are you?

[dennis tooth]

Yes future captain was on show there, Martin Kelly, the Newton ninja!

 

Now thats a football player, a real proper player, Henderson is a fanny. Im sorry, I wish he wasnt but he is.

[Guest TK-421]

Yeah, but he's our fanny.

[dennis tooth]

tru.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Watch Kuyt's chance on about 85', fantastic play by Henderson from the right.

[Iceman]

Watch Kuyt's chance on about 85', fantastic play by Henderson from the right.

 

It was lovely stuff.

[ngogswilly]

He seemed like a man possessed for that chance. Was fantastic. He seems to have these little bursts from time to time where he genuinely looks a fantastic player. Hopefully he can be more consistent with that.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Watch Kuyt's chance on about 85', fantastic play by Henderson from the right.

 

I was stunned. He beat TWO players?! Decent ball in too, just wish it was a few feet forward. Or that Kuyt wasn't having one of his worst games for us.

 

Ho-hum, it didn't matter in the end.

[zigackly]

Back, not barrack, Henderson and he will blossom at Anfield

22 November, by Iain Macintosh

 

Why do so many people seem to hate Jordan Henderson? If you listen to the phone-ins or spend more time than is healthy on Twitter, you’ll have noticed a growing number of Liverpool fans queuing up to put the boot in on their own £16million summer signing. There’s even a Facebook group, inventively titled, “Jordan Henderson is S**T.” It’s not all Liverpool fans, but it is a significant portion of them and they’re not being very fair. Henderson is a more than useful footballer.

 

In his brief cameo at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, he completed seven out of 10 passes. Seven out of 10. It’s actually rather tempting to use that statistic as a means of quickly describing Henderson to the uninitiated. The 21-year-old really is a 7/10 kind of guy. He’s a cheese and pickle sandwich. He’s a Tom Clancy novel. He’s the second Stone Roses album. He’s good. Not great, but good. If we were to apply the Gary Neville ‘PlayStation Controller’ test, Henderson would be operated by a mature gamer uncomfortable with all those fancy ‘special move’ buttons. And that’s no bad thing.

 

In all but one of his 12 Premier League appearances this season, Henderson’s pass completion rate has been above 70%. In three games, it has been above 90%. The only aberration was the White Hart Lane massacre (69%) and in that, he was hardly the worst offender. Generally, he gets the ball, he gives the ball and he moves up the field. Get, give, go. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

Like another understated Liverpool midfielder, Ray Houghton, Henderson tends to play on the right wing only when his colleagues have the ball. When they are on the back foot, he trots in to form a midfield three. He does his job well and he never complains. But even if Henderson wasn’t giving entirely competent performances, the criticism would be over the top. This is, after all, a young man living in a new city in his first season with one of the most popular clubs on the planet. A little patience might be nice.

 

The problem, you suspect, is that many of his critics are unaware of the concept of patience, or of Houghton, or of the fact that Liverpool’s success in the 1970s and 80s was built on getting the ball, giving the ball and moving up the field. Today’s game is far more hysterical. In today’s game, if you don’t grab the bull by the horns and flush its head down the toilet like, say, Sergio Aguero at Manchester City, you’re in trouble. Henderson doesn’t grab bulls. He smiles politely and passes the ball around them.

 

Like his club, he’s in the early stages of what Reds fans will hope is a glorious metamorphosis. In the same way that Kenny Dalglish should never have been expected to convert Roy Hodgson’s misbegotten hoofballers into tiki-taka title contenders inside a year, Henderson should not be expected to wrestle the Ballon D’or from Lionel Messi’s tiny mitts in his debut season. Or indeed, ever. Yes, £16million was probably more than he is worth, but it’s not like he negotiated the fee himself. He shouldn’t be punished for the premium incurred by increasingly stringent ‘homegrown’ player restrictions.

 

In true Henderson style, let’s make this simple. He is already good. At some point in the future he will be very good and then, as they did with the much-maligned, now much-adored Lucas, those hard-to-please Liverpool fans are going to yank the handbrake and perform a screeching mental U-turn. Perhaps if they got behind their man now, instead of attempting to destroy him, he might get there sooner.

[VladimirIlyich]

I like him a lot and he's got a big future at the club.

The people complaining remind me of the same one's who criticised the likes of Ronnie Whelan in his early years at the club.

How did he turn out I wonder?

[Hooch]

He played really well yesterday, and that will only give him more confidence.

[silverlining]

He played really well yesterday, and that will only give him more confidence.

 

No he didn't

[Joe Le Taxi]

He was very hit and miss yesterday. There was the chance he made for Kuyt which was quality and he put in a few decent balls but then he fucked it up. There was one chance he tried to touch it down and it ballooned up into the air and another when he missed it completely and let it go out for our throw.

 

I feel for the lad and whilst I think he will come good, he needs more confidence. The ability is there he just needs to find form.

[satansmutt]

I think he and the rest of our midfield play better with 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1.

When we play 4-4-2 we struggle to control games, he gets pushed onto the right wing and Charlie Adam looks piss poor with just Lucas for company.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

He played really well yesterday, and that will only give him more confidence.

 

He was solid. Oddly enough, the bloke sitting next to me was the spitting image of him: I kept doing double-takes all afternoon.

[Bobby Hundreds]

He was solid. Oddly enough, the bloke sitting next to me was the spitting image of him: I kept doing double-takes all afternoon.

 

[Hooch]

No he didn't

 

Pleasure debating with you.

[Unrighteous]

I repeat: Jordan Henderson will prove to be an absolute bargain in the next few years. He's got potential to be truly fantastic.

[dennis tooth]

I thought he was ace. I take it all back. True story. Silverlining, you need to switch your style up.

[silverlining]

I thought he was ace. I take it all back. True story. Silverlining, you need to switch your style up.

 

Me?? You're the one who called him a "fanny" a few post ago. And now, after another mediocre display, you're all over him like white on rice.

 

Disgusting.

[Bogman]

Me?? You're the one who called him a "fanny" a few post ago. And now, after another mediocre display, you're all over him like white on rice.

 

Disgusting.

 

 

It wasn't that bad.

Throw the lad some slack. This is Lucas repeating itself.

 

Think I'll wait and see what happens to him before writing him off, but if you thought yesterdays performance was "mediocre", well..............

[lamai]

It wasn't that bad.

Throw the lad some slack. This is Lucas repeating itself.

 

Think I'll wait and see what happens to him before writing him off, but if you thought yesterdays performance was "mediocre", well..............

 

Correct, I think he will take a couple of years. and he should not be a starting every game. Hopefully he will get better with time.

[dennis tooth]

Me?? You're the one who called him a "fanny" a few post ago. And now, after another mediocre display, you're all over him like white on rice.

 

Disgusting.

 

Wtf? He was outstanding yesterday.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Wtf? He was outstanding yesterday.

 

Behave. He was nothing like outstanding. It was an ok performance, nothing more than that.

[dirk grout]

Correct, I think he will take a couple of years. and he should not be a starting every game. Hopefully he will get better with time.

 

Hes not starting every game and of course he will get better. Hes just turned 21.

[James Dean]

I think he'll be boss, but I wish he had the mentality of the likes of Bellamy or Suarez. Too nice and tidy atm.