Liverpool FC Forum

It's a bit unfair to say that all he does is running around. I think that there's more to it. Sure, he's no Pirlo with his passing but I think that his link-up play and understanding with the forwards is being a bit undervalued.

But his defensive work-rate is definitely high above any other of his qualities. He might not tackle a lot but his pressing and good positioning is just as important because it forces a lot of mistakes. I read a month or so ago that he has the most interceptions in the league.

damjan193 » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:11 pm wrote:It's a bit unfair to say that all he does is running around. I think that there's more to it. Sure, he's no Pirlo with his passing but I think that his link-up play and understanding with the forwards is being a bit undervalued.

Maybe sounded more harsh than intended.

I've been really impressed with the lad this season and I was quite vocal in labelling him as one of the big money flops, along with Downing and Carroll. Whilst it's true we overpaid for him, he's worked his b0ll0cks off to prove his doubters wrong....if only the same could have been said for Downing and Carroll.

I think Henderson will play a valuable part in our future success, but my point was we need another midfielder to give us more options in the coming years, with CL footie.

the lad has a hell of an engine in him and would run through brick walls for us but id prefer to see him run through other players TBH. he has the attributes for it but rarely attempts it, he plays it safe too much and its hard to know if its the way he is being coached to play or he just has no confidence in himself. more often than not he rids himself of the ball rather than put a foot on it and see whats happening around him.
we need grafters but i believe with some encouragement he can be so much more than just that.

red till i die!! » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:36 pm wrote:the lad has a hell of an engine in him and would run through brick walls for us but id prefer to see him run through other players TBH. he has the attributes for it but rarely attempts it, he plays it safe too much and its hard to know if its the way he is being coached to play or he just has no confidence in himself. more often than not he rids himself of the ball rather than put a foot on it and see whats happening around him.
we need grafters but i believe with some encouragement he can be so much more than just that.

I'd say this was true of his earlier career... Very true to be honest. I was furious with his earlier performances as you could clearly see there was something in him. I doubted he had the heart and desire to make it here.

But I think in fairness to himself and the team he's really stepped up. Its good to see him finally trying to take responsibility in games and playing a through ball, trying a back heel and most importantly putting a foot in.

The lad is no world beater and certainly isn't going to win you a league on his own, but he's contributed positively this season and its not something that can be said of him in the past.

His work rate, link up play with the forwards, ability to turn the oppositions midfield with his running power along with his engine and actually putting a foot in has earnt him his place and quite honestly, as long as he keeps performing the way he has been I have no reason too see him being anything other than first 11 material. I've lost count the amount of times since November he's closed people down and managed to get in some sort of interception, tackle or pushed an opponent into a corner forcing the tackle from someone else. He is double teaming opponents too which is always clever (Xavi and Iniesta done it at their best).

You get international class players, you have good players and sometimes you have a decent player who just fits the system and plays well with his current team mates... Henderson is doing exactly that and long may it continue.

Hats off.

I think the lads form has been nothing short of inspirational in the latter half of the season ,and in the game against Spudz his influence was
phenomenal.....I also believe he has a lot more in his locker than just his effervescence ,the boy can really play ,and has added invention to
his game along with the ability to thread a defence splitting pass and hit a peach of a goal or two.

Aside from our front two I would comfortably say he's been our most important player ,and more importantly our most consistent ,I mean at the
very least we didn't have to wait till the end of January for him to look arsed.

RED BEERGOGGLES » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:36 pm wrote:I think the lads form has been nothing short of inspirational in the latter half of the season ,and in the game against Spudz his influence was
phenomenal.....I also believe he has a lot more in his locker than just his effervescence ,the boy can really play ,and has added invention to
his game along with the ability to thread a defence splitting pass and hit a peach of a goal or two.

Aside from our front two I would comfortably say he's been our most important player ,and more importantly our most consistent ,I mean at the
very least we didn't have to wait till the end of January for him to look arsed.

Getting a bit boring your digs at Gerrard now mate.

Ben Patrick » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:49 pm wrote:

RED BEERGOGGLES » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:36 pm wrote:I think the lads form has been nothing short of inspirational in the latter half of the season ,and in the game against Spudz his influence was
phenomenal.....I also believe he has a lot more in his locker than just his effervescence ,the boy can really play ,and has added invention to
his game along with the ability to thread a defence splitting pass and hit a peach of a goal or two.

Aside from our front two I would comfortably say he's been our most important player ,and more importantly our most consistent ,I mean at the
very least we didn't have to wait till the end of January for him to look arsed.

Getting a bit boring your digs at Gerrard now mate.

My heart bleeds kid

I always had faith in the lad  . His only problem was his confidence and not believing in himself. He finally looks like he's past that and he's starting to look like the player we thought he could be. For me, all things considered, he's probably been our third best player this season.

Credit to Brendan too, who has managed to play Jordan to his strengths.

RED BEERGOGGLES » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:58 pm wrote:

Ben Patrick » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:49 pm wrote:

RED BEERGOGGLES » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:36 pm wrote:I think the lads form has been nothing short of inspirational in the latter half of the season ,and in the game against Spudz his influence was
phenomenal.....I also believe he has a lot more in his locker than just his effervescence ,the boy can really play ,and has added invention to
his game along with the ability to thread a defence splitting pass and hit a peach of a goal or two.

Aside from our front two I would comfortably say he's been our most important player ,and more importantly our most consistent ,I mean at the
very least we didn't have to wait till the end of January for him to look arsed.

Getting a bit boring your digs at Gerrard now mate.

My heart bleeds kid

I am not a kid.

Only commented as this is Henderson thread and for no reason you throw a dig in at Gerrard.

Strange

Ben Patrick » Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:56 pm wrote:I am not a kid.

Only commented as this is Henderson thread and for no reason you throw a dig in at Gerrard.

strange

There's always a reason Ben ,give me enough credit for that 

As for being 'strange' I can assure you my displeasure at some of Gerrards performances this season were born of watching
the effort he afforded the shirt on his back against Villa in the first half ,his body language in that game was decidedly
less that what we have come to expect from him by about 90% ....I think it was SS who pointed out his complete disinterest
when warming up before the game,and the scowl that masked his face.

Anyway now he's playing well and deservedly earning the plaudits ,so I am as delighted as anyone at his return to form ,but
lack of effort is something you have never been able to aim at Gerrard ,so the Villa game proved a real eye opener.

In future I will endeavour not to throw threads off track Ben ,but as in regards to any Liverpool player I will always say it as I see it.

Great piece in today's Times that I had to post. Funny and completely on the button with the assessment on Jordan Henderson's revival.

----

From hopeless to heroic – the remaking of Jordan Henderson
Rick Broadbent
April 07 2014 10:04AM

It is easy to get bogged down in cynicism and pessimism when you watch a lot of football. My team has just been taken over by an Italian with a conviction for false-accounting, so clearly he is the man to sort out the financial troubles. A lot of people think he is the answer, largely because he has told them that he is. Ironically, he has also curried favour by being secretly recorded calling the Leeds United team “sh*t”, the theory being that he obviously knows something about football.

Then there is the diving, the shirt-pulling, the money, the spitting. There is abuse on the pitch and abuse off it, Platini, Blatter and penalty shootouts. If not one thing it’s two. But then there is Jordan Henderson to give us all hope.

Henderson is my player of the season. Not for his talent or even his displays, both of which have often been under-rated, but for his resilience. Here is a man who, early in his Anfield career, was held up as a totem of a world gone mad. Eighteen million for a sh*t team like that, Massimo Cellino said to a Leeds fan as he contemplated the wage bill in West Yorkshire. Had he been at Anfield in 2012, he would have added: “And sixteen million for Jordan Henderson.”

It was not hard to find critics of Henderson back then. A large section of Liverpool fans thought he was useless. Some Sunderland fans felt the same and sighed with relief. And journalists. When he got called up for England in 2010 I was one of them; if that’s the future, hand me that Italia 90 DVD.

Henderson initially did all he could to keep his cover secret. He was mediocre, appeared to be a poor man’s Scott Parker (in a £16 million sort of way) and was often on the bench. Brendan Rodgers was happy to let him go to Fulham as a makeweight and, to be honest, that seemed about right, a place where he could go and try to be Steve Sidwell instead of messing around on the wing like a poverty-stricken man’s Steve Heighway.

However, Henderson did what so many players, and people in other walks of life, would not have done. If your boss told you that you could leave and if you were relegated to the subs’ bench, told to play at right back or right midfield or anywhere else that was not your favoured position, you might get the hint. You might sulk. I mean, it’s not as if quivering bottom lips are alien to football.

Henderson stuck at it, kept trying and now the scales have fallen from everyone’s eyes. He is now pretty much the most energetic midfielder in the country. He is a professional hassler. He is Steven Gerrard’s legs and played a key role in the reinvention of the Liverpool captain as a deep-sitting quarterback. Henderson chases long balls, Gerrard has a chaise longue. They complement each other perfectly.

I was also impressed by the way Henderson sidestepped a potential media row with Sir Alex Ferguson. You will remember that before he took to intimidating David Moyes (how else do you explain that away form?), Ferguson mentioned Henderson in his book. After saying Liverpool were eight players shirt of a title-challenge and that Gerrard was not a “top, top player”, the old sage suggested Henderson’s running gait might cause him problems in later life.

Rodgers went on the offensive and said Henderson was “an absolute machine”. Henderson, though, was far more measured. “It didn’t seem that bad, saying my running style was not great,” he said. It was a remark that cut through the hype and hullabaloo of modern football, when sports folk are damned as bland and then rows are whipped up whenever anyone ventures an opinion. Henderson was right. “You run a bit funny” was not the Oscar Wilde of cutting insults.

He shrugged that off as he has done pretty much everything else. He has proved his versatility again this season, as an attacking midfielder, cutting in from the right, as part of the engine room. He is more likely to find a cure for climate change than do a step over, and does not make make your heart sing so much as make it hum tone-deaf murmurs of grudging appreciation, but he has been great.

And here’s a thing. England have to play a World Cup match in the Amazon. Last time they played Italy they identified Andrea Pirlo as the danger man and decided the best thing to do was ignore him in the hope he might go away. The 20-yard exclusion zone backfired horribly, but imagine if the old playmaker had Henderson chipping away at him? He might be the sort of player to make Pirlo look like his 100 years.

It takes all sorts. Back at Cellino’s club they still love David Batty because he was steadfastly unambitious. His job was to get the ball and give it to Gary McAllister or Gordon Strachan. Robbie Savage was another. You always felt Martin O’Neill wished he didn’t have to pick him for Leicester, but he knew he was good at making Muzzy Izzet and Neil Lennon look good. Batty and Savage and Scott Parker are the sort of water carriers who dragged every iota of ability from modest talents. They left it all on the pitch, apart from Savage of course, who continues his bid to be the next Sue Barker. This is football, though. It is not all about strikers. “There is no real substitute for a ball struck squarely and firmly,” sang Billy Bragg, another who dragged a good career out of much criticism.

Henderson has more than Batty and Savage, because he is not a mere defensive foil for better players. He has found his niche and he has done it by sticking at it when all around him saw only doubt. Now he’s redoubtable. Good on him. And, anyway, Emil Zatopek ran funny too.

Rodgers went on the offensive and said Henderson was “an absolute machine”. Henderson, though, was far more measured. “It didn’t seem that bad, saying my running style was not great,” he said. It was a remark that cut through the hype and hullabaloo of modern football, when sports folk are damned as bland and then rows are whipped up whenever anyone ventures an opinion. Henderson was right. “You run a bit funny” was not the Oscar Wilde of cutting insults.

Exactly.

Blown out of all proportion.

Stu the Red » Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:33 pm wrote:

Rodgers went on the offensive and said Henderson was “an absolute machine”. Henderson, though, was far more measured. “It didn’t seem that bad, saying my running style was not great,” he said. It was a remark that cut through the hype and hullabaloo of modern football, when sports folk are damned as bland and then rows are whipped up whenever anyone ventures an opinion. Henderson was right. “You run a bit funny” was not the Oscar Wilde of cutting insults.

Exactly.

Blown out of all proportion.

Rodgers opinion or the insult?

SouthCoastShankly » Mon Apr 07, 2014 8:15 pm wrote:

Stu the Red » Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:33 pm wrote:

Rodgers went on the offensive and said Henderson was “an absolute machine”. Henderson, though, was far more measured. “It didn’t seem that bad, saying my running style was not great,” he said. It was a remark that cut through the hype and hullabaloo of modern football, when sports folk are damned as bland and then rows are whipped up whenever anyone ventures an opinion. Henderson was right. “You run a bit funny” was not the Oscar Wilde of cutting insults.

Exactly.

Blown out of all proportion.

Rodgers opinion or the insult?

What insult?  There was no insult.

Ferguson saying he looked at him but believed his running style may cause problems in the future with his posture and fitness is not an insult. Its a professional observation and opinion by a man who is very good at his job who decided not to take a punt on a player he believes (on doctors advice) MAY (or may not) encounter physical problems in his career due to his running style. If you believe that to be an insult then you were brought up in a very sheltered environment.

Exactly.

Blown out of all proportion.

Rodgers opinion or the insult?

What insult?  There was no insult.

Ferguson saying he looked at him but believed his running style may cause problems in the future with his posture and fitness is not an insult. Its a professional observation and opinion by a man who is very good at his job who decided not to take a punt on a player he believes (on doctors advice) MAY (or may not) encounter physical problems in his career due to his running style. If you believe that to be an insult then you were brought up in a very sheltered environment.

Whatever Stu. You're so far up Uniteds *****, you can't even hide it anymore.

Ferguson's comments on Kenny's signings (from which the Henderson comment was borne) was nothing short of a pop at Kenny and a cheap shot at Henderson.

I'm with Brendan on this one -

"I think if Sir Alex ever bumps into Jordan he might want to apologise for that," the Liverpool manager said. "The comment surprised me, I have to be honest,coming from someone with such status in the game. Maybe it was meant as flippant but to a young player making his way in the game it could be damaging. Every player is different, and every player at this club has had his strengths and weaknesses medically assessed. The statement in terms of Jordan was inappropriate.

"Sir Alex is in a position to say what he likes, and you don't have to agree with it, but I think there is a sadness to this as it is something that will probably stay with people for a long while. I think every football person would have enjoyed his achievements in the game and the legacy he has left, but now people are only going to talk about the comments in the book. In a way I can understand some of the comments, when you have been chasing a club as successful as Liverpool you have to find ways to bring them down. But this is a club that has class and history and in the modern era is fighting to get back to that level again."

Alex Ferguson hate this club and all associated with it. Despite his success, his opinions are irrelevant to me. He will always have bias against us, as such his opinions are useless. Something you hold in common with the old man.