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No Lucas-Style Redemption For This Midfielder…Yet

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Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson celebratesIN the summer of 2011, when Jordan Henderson first signed for Liverpool Football Club I admit to being remarkably disturbed by how much we paid for him.

I knew absolutely zero about the guy. That isn’t because of my ignorance of anything outside of the club I’ve loved since I was born, but more so the fact that his rise had been pretty unremarkable.

Here was a lad, playing in the first-team at his home-town club – Sunderland – who was impressing many with the fact that he was a regular in the side at a young age, but wasn’t exactly pulling up trees.

After what was a very, very – very – mediocre first season, Jordan has been slightly more impressive this year. A run of some improved performances was capped by maybe his best in a Red shirt against Norwich just over a week ago, which had many waxing about his brilliant strike to get us up and running.

In the past week I’ve heard many paying him tribute with comparisons to Lucas in the sense that he has overcome his nay-sayers in the same way.

Unfortunately, I’m here to downplay things a little for you. Sure, he’s been pretty decent lately, but he is not even close to the same ball-park as Lucas just yet.

Following his signing some years ago, Lucas was practically hounded out of the club, such was the extent of the outright hatred the midfielder received from our fans. I was often appalled at his treatment, such was the unwarranted vitriol aimed at the young Brazilian in his early days.

However, Lucas gradually won people over.  It was a combination of hard-work, adapting to his cultural surroundings and getting used to Premier League football. The icing on the cake for many was an early season performance last year when Lucas utterly dominated Man City’s expensive midfield, more or less single-handedly.  It’s a performance I will remember fondly for years – he was like a force that literally could not be reckoned with on that day.
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He is so important to the club (and the fans, too) now that whenever he even slightly limps during a match, we all cringe. That is how you know when you’ve got a player that is one of the first names on the team sheet every week.

And it is for his reason that I say this: Jordan Henderson is not quite there yet. Sure, his second season has started somewhat more impressively, but a couple of goals and looking a little bit more like you’re ‘up for it’ doesn’t mean you’ve made it at this club.

I’ve been much more impressed with the midfielder’s attitude this season; he appears to understand much more what is expected of a Liverpool footballer but he’s still a long way off being made of the right stuff.

He clearly has the ability and his technique is quite impressive (for an English player!) but I want at least a full season of impressive performances before I’ll equate him with players like Lucas, Gerrard and Suarez.

So, until the season is over, he’s still on a trial period for me, particularly given the hefty sum we splashed out on him, but if he continues to improve and carries on chipping in the odd assist and goal then I will happily accept him as a player I misjudged. Until that day arrives, though, the jury (or mine, at least) is still very much out on ‘Hendo’.
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I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

29 comments

  • Brad says:

    So were you just critical when Lucas wasn’t “pulling up trees”? Do you see the ridiculous irony of this article?

  • stan howard says:

    Borini, poor Allen,average cost a total of 26 million ? Coutino lightweight untried youngster 8.5 million ? – what has changed. Gerrard was right we need older heads.

  • peter says:

    He just can’t beat my Lucas,because lucas will also be improving everyday,I pray his without injury

  • Dennis says:

    You cant compare every under-performing player with Lucas , in the ‘hope’ that they will come good

    Some players simply aren’t good enough for a club like LFC . Henderson and Allen are clearly both not good enough

    what is Liverpool supposed to do ? Give them 40 games to get up to speed with Liverpool standards ? 50 games ? 100 games ?

    Nonsense , unless its a youth player , a player should perform to high standards right from the off . 15 – 20 games is more than enough . Liverpool cannot afford passengers for games

    • Logical fan says:

      Henson is 22, Allen about that too – I’m sorry but you are going overboard declaring these two players will amount to nothing. Might as well write off Sterling and Suso now as clearly if they have a dip in form they are not longer fit to wear the shirt.

      I would hate to have people gunning for my downfall to be the same ones supposedly supporting the team I play for.

      Get. A. Grip. You closet United fans!

    • Logical fan says:

      If you’re under performing its safe to assume there’s a normal level – I think Rodgers has shown he won’t tolerate dips in form and rewards good form. These young guys aren’t robots or FIFA characters. ALL top players were once young and inexperienced once

      • Jonas says:

        Rodgers wont tolerate dips ? NONSENSE , Allen has been rubbish all season and Rodgers still plays him . Borini too

    • Jack says:

      Your totally spot on dennis . Henderson n Allen are waste of space . We r giving players too many chances when they r not doing it

    • Gary says:

      Yes , I would think 10 to 12 games is enough to show if you have the quality for LFC

  • Denis says:

    This is the story of our club the last five seasons, too many average dead wood hard working players still at club. Allen, Borini,Coates, Henderson and Downing. These players all fit in the category above.

    And should be shipped out bit by bit, Allen and Downing are descent squad players but should not be first team regulars. But Borini and Coates should be shipped out before Thursday as the offer the club nothing.

    Robinson should be nowhere near the first team at all, he has year and half to two years of learning to do in the reserves before he can even attempt to challenge and compete with Enrique.

    B Rodgers has shipped out 9 players since his reign( Aurelio, Aquilani, Adams, Bellamy, Carroll, Cole, Kuyt, Rodriguez and Spearing. But only brought 4 players in to replace the 9 (Allen, Assaidi, Borini and Sturridge) And also a loan player who was at club for half season but has now been sent back rightly so.

    And FSG need to Give B Rodgers £35M to bring in 6 players by Thursday night. Newcastle have brought in 5 players after selling one in need of staying in premiership, we have shipped out 9 players and brought in 4. 2 more players need to be shipped out this week, Borini and Coates.

    And these 6 players are DESPERATELY NEEDED to strengthen side and give some youth and experience, class,Depth, quality and quality Competition for places within Club/Squad.

    1: J Butland(19) Of Birmingham should be brought for £3-£5M to compete with Jones and Pepe. GK

    2: D Rose(22) Of Tottenham should be brought for £2-£5M to compete with Enrique. LB

    3: A Williams(28 Experience) Of Swansea should be brought for £7-£8M to compete with Agger and Skrtel. CB

    4: M Diame(25 Experience) Of West Ham should be brought for £3-£5M to compete with LUCAS. DM

    Two Attacking players:

    1: Coutinho(20) Of Inter Milan is nearly a done deal and hopefully he has his medical tommorrow and everything is wrapped up tommorrow with that. He will come and compete with Shelvey and Suso for the AM Position in front of LUCAS and Gerrard.

    2: B Arfa(25 Experience) Of Newcastle should be brought in swap deal with A Carroll and £10-£15M Cash and Arfa should compete with Downing for LW / LWF Position at club.

    Those 6 players would bring experience and youth, in Williams and Diame, we would have two built, powerful strong mobile defensive players who can compete are loud talkers and are players who would stand up and be counted against teams like Stoke, Oldham and Sunderland.

    And Arfa would bring some more pace,speed, class and quality to the attack with some experience.

    And the other three players would be for the future

    • baz says:

      Another FIFA / Fantasy football manager who thinks he knows best.

      Funny how they always say “Sell so and so for X amount of money and buy so and so for Y amount of money” as if they are some sort of football expert. If their knowledge of player valuations is so good perhaps they should consider a career as a player agent

      Funny also how these people never seem to get picked up by any club in need of a manager.

      • Denis says:

        Baz we have too many avearge mediocre players at club and have been struggling for last four and a half seasons.

        Its fact our club depserately needs players in and alot of them, buy the £20M plus players we can no longer go for unless we get back in champions league.

        We have a weak and pathetic squad and it showed against oldham badly if any Four of these eight players are out of first 11 we are *.

        Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Johnson, Lucas, Gerrard and Suarez. And that shows lack of depth and no QUALITY cover, cover but average not class or Quality cover.

        Do you think if we had A Williams(28) and M Diame(25) in our first 11 we would be getting bullied by teams like Oldham, West Brom, Stoke Or A Villa.

        Hell no, we need some size and strength in our squad as against the powerful physical sides in league and in lower divisions, the likes of Jones, Allen, Borini,Coates, Henderson, Robinson, Shelvey, Sterling and Suso are not up for the battle and are easily out muscled and bullied in physical games.

        So M Diame(25) who bossed the game against us when we played west Ham at their ground, only when he went off injured we got back into game. Should be brought to club NOW

        A Williams(28) Is a beast, aggressive, powerful, fast, mobile and loud and a character.

        Diame(25) has contract clause of £3.5M to be activated, but as Arsenal and Tottenham are sniffing around him we should just offer £4-£5M and get him. We need him more than Tottenham

        Williams is 28 and we are in desperate need of cnetre back to compete with Agger and Skrtel, as Carrgher is three and half years past his best and a liability whenever he plays now and Coates is a friendly giant centre back who gets bullied and doesn’t look up to the fight and physical duels needed to be a top centre back in English football.

        After Jones’s performance yesterday and Reina being so inconsistant for last three and half seasons, you wonder why we desperately need a new young GD goalkeeper at club. J Butland (19)

        And Robinson should be nowhere near first team, Enrique needs good healthy competition for his place and cover for his place, G Johnson is best right back in league easily but when he has played at left back this season in certain games and against certain wingers he has been exposed as its not his natural position. That is why D Rose(22) Left footed quick pacey lively full back with strength should be brought to club to compete with Enrique.

        And B Rodgers doesn’t want or need Carroll, Carroll wants to go back to Newcastke, Pardew wants Carroll but we are not getting mugged off again. And B Arfa(25) is the one player who is in the same class calibre as Gerrard and Suarez, so he should be brought to club in swap deal with A Carroll and £10-£15M.

        Its not fantasy football, when we are losing to teams like west brom two seasons on trot and being bullied by stoke two years on trot and got bullied and out played by oldham in FA Cup.

        Our club needs huge surgery done to the playing staff before we can ever compete with the two manchester clubs and chelsea for league again.

        We do not need to do a Chelsea or a Man City and spend £450m in three seasons. But owners will need to pump in at least £150M on playing staff in a season and half to get us back yo top amongst the elites sides of europe again where we belong

  • pokdin says:

    1)my question is why Liverpool didnt bother to find another defensive mid to cover Lucas?

    Another player can play in that position but not as good as Lucas. In the end, our result Win Loss percentage will tell us that without good defensive mid like Lucas, we loss more.

    Sometimes even Gerrard have to go defend becoz when Lucas not around, player that so called can-replace Lucas duty not gud at tackling & marking/pressure opponent. Which will effect Stevie performance greatly.

    Ever since Lucas’s back, Stevie looks more open to go forward without worrying to cover midfield.
    He then got assist more, goals more.

    2)Another one, Liverpool tend to sign small player with technical ability. but in the end not all of them suitable for all EPL matches. At least need to find player with physical advantage & got skills. Luckily Rodgers sometimes use Enrique as winger which I think a gud move. With his physical presence, he can press more upfront.

    tqvm.

  • Snake Plissken says:

    Outrun, out jumped, out played, out worked by Oldham. The buck stops with the manager. The team reflect Brenda’s lack of fight and competitive spirit, the truth is he is a weak man. I want to see a Liverpool side fight tooth and nail right to the bitter end. The blessed Shanks will be turning in his grave.

    • bob says:

      im afraid you are right , but what do you expect when allen is picked ? shocking team selection by rodgers

  • bob says:

    i agree with dennis , how long are we supposed to put up with poor players . we need everybody producing and contributing . its like playing with 10 men when allen is on the pitch , he contributes nothing

    i actually feel a touch sorry fot henderson , neither dalglish nor rodgers has played him in his correct position as sitting midfielder . but where he has played he hasnt been good enough , so he should be got rid of

    10 games of poor quality should be enough in a liverpool team , you should not get 20 or 30 or 50 . or should we have given christian poulsen 50 games ? or sean dundee 50 games ?

    allen and henderson are not young , will not improve and should be sold . borini should not get too many more chances either

  • simon says:

    Joe Allen has had 30 games and produced nothing . Henderson 75 games and produced very little . We cant be putting up with this

    They are taking places that others might excel in . 31m worth of rubbish

  • Gary says:

    For every 1 Lucas anybody can name , i can name 50 who haven’t turned it around . We have to STOP using this Lucas analogy

    Now every time we have a sh*t player – the fans say ‘oh wait , i think we have another Lucas , give him more time ‘ ……. well NO , if we have a sh*t player , lets dump him and try someone else

    • King Kenny II says:

      Exactly . For Every Lucas There are 100 Djimi Traore’s Out There _ Its a Stupid Thing To Compare Anyone To Lucas Situation

  • Hud says:

    allen has got to go , maybe Hendo has some potential ,but Allen Not

  • ozred says:

    Henderson has looked better in his second year at the club than Lucas did in his second year.

    Nobody’s saying he’s at the level of Lucas yet. Just that he’s showing some clear signs of improvement through shear work and determination – which is very similar to the Lucas story.

    He’s a player who a serious club doesn’t spend $16m on but that’s done now. Is miles off being anything like $16m worth but the arrow is pointing in the right direction at least.

  • James D says:

    Would Ferguson give crap player more than 20 games ? NO WAY
    Ferguson gave Kleberson 20 games b4 getting rid , and he was better than Allen by a mile . Macheda played 19 games b4 being dumped and he did way more than Borini has . Park got 6 games for Arsenal b4 being dumped

    Good managers dont keep players who are not performing they get rid

  • steo says:

    the money for transfares has dryed up because of th owners. they wont buy because they have a policy that has flaws, over the short term, like sell all your top earners “4 penuts, or free” to save on wages, then in 5 or 10 years ower team will have got more experience and be sold for a profet “like some north london club” . i hope i am wrong because 7 is the best we can hope 4. 4 years we wear close to geten the holey grale and i had grate expectations of doing so but we are going nowhere fast with theses owers . but i think rogeres is doing a grate job with what he has YNWA ……………….

    • pat says:

      lol , rodgers is doing a disgraceful job with the world class players he has . he is a total mug

  • steo says:

    james d defo man u supporter

  • Olsen says:

    Not sure about Henderson but Allen should defo never play for LFC again . He is not even premier player

  • Danny says:

    NO redemption for Allen -he is simply useless

Comments are closed.