Quantcast
View from the Kop

Are Henderson and Wilshere in different leagues?

|
Image for Are Henderson and Wilshere in different leagues?

Liverpool v ArsenalJORDAN Henderson is a player who often divides opinion amongst Liverpool FC fans, and as for non-Liverpool supporters…well, let’s just say they are entitled to their views.

I currently sit firmly in the ‘Pro-Henderson’ camp.

It is a frustrating and often lonely place, however as the weeks and games go by more and more people are converting.

When players such as Carroll, Downing and Henderson arrived at the club for astronomical fees, critics automatically gained a narrative to play out their negative headline grabbing stories. This misplaced frustration has without a doubt contributed towards underwhelming and undeniably poor performances at times.

Those mistakes are being learnt from; the purchase of Sturridge and Coutinho showing the club is making every effort to stamp out the mafia legacy, which blighted our payroll and ultimately led to Clint Dempsey heading to Spurs instead of his number one choice, LFC.

Jack Wilshere has emerged as a first choice Arsenal and now first choice England player. Those within the football world compare him with the likes of Xavi, Inesta and Gerrard and to some Liverpool fans this can be hard to swallow. But ask any Arsenal fan and they would probably say he is better than all three.

Wilshere is a year and half younger than Henderson, had been out injured for over a year, yet still manages to jump straight into the England squad without so much as a blink of an eye. Is the gulf in class between the two players this large?

My answer to this would be both yes and no.

In football, often the smallest of differences in play have the most significant outcomes. The game is played so fast and with so much method and preparation that players who seem light years ahead in terms of skill and creativity can leave others looking ordinary and at times out of their depth.
[ad_pod id=”unruly-video” align=”center”]
Jack Wilshere has two things that put him in this ‘super-player’ category, aside from the obvious attributes such as pace and passing ability. It is in these two areas where Henderson can make improvements.

1) Judgement.

This is something intrinsic within a player and can be the difference between scoring or conceding, winning and losing. At times this attribute goes unnoticed by fans but knowing what to do, or what not to do at crucial points in a match is a subtle but important skill. It can also come down to an understanding within a team that has been developed over a number of years. Wilshere has had over a decade under Arsene Wenger and his coaches to develop a singular style of play, which has determined that most of his split second decisions are so natural to him that he just knows what the right move is at the right time.

The answer for Jordan? Stick with Liverpool (as he made clear he wanted to do in the summer) and listen to Rodgers and the LFC coaching staff. With training, he will make up for lost time and hopefully lose some of the bad habits he picked up at Sunderland.

2) First touch.

This may seem obvious but when you compare the first touch of both players this small detail is staggering. Jack Wilshere’s first touch and initial movement is what makes him the player he is and where the comparisons with Barcelona playmakers are wholly justified. Before he even has the ball he knows which direction he is going to take it and by hardly stopping he creates that extra yard (and time) to make a distributional decision or carry the ball and run at the defence.

The answer for Jordan? He doesn’t need to change everything about his game to work on this, or try to be a player he isn’t. But this is something that every club works on at training and perhaps something that comes with self-belief and maybe even a touch of arrogance. Xabi Alonso was never arrogant but it was clear he believed in his own ability and is a great example of a player whose game is defined by their first touch.

Jordan Henderson has an opportunity to thrive in the current Liverpool squad and his positive, hard working attitude will go a long way with the fans. He is also in a privileged position in playing alongside one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the sport, Steven Gerrard. If he can’t pick up a thing or two from him then he might as well pack his bags and call it a day.
[ad_pod id=’DFP-MPU’ align=’right’]
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com

Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook

Share this article

15 comments

  • fred says:

    who is jordan henderson? how come i’ve never have heard of this boy

  • Stav says:

    Im sure Henderson has something to offer and I suspect the pressure of a big fee and club has ruined him in the short term. Im not convinced he is special and he is defo not in the same class as Wiltshire.

  • wardy says:

    Fred , thats a little harsh.
    If you want to know what seperates jack from most others is he is a ball hugger it never seems to stray no more than Ft from his foot at any one time which allows him to dribble quite effortlessly as for his passing thats down to 2 things his technique and Cesc. Jack plays the same type of ball so it cant be a coincidence.

  • olly says:

    Wilshere is a special player the type you build your team around & pray your academy produces.

    Henderson is a average run-of-the-mill bog standard British player who has bundles of ‘drive’, ‘heart’ & ‘passion’ but there are 100’s of them in the English leagues…. For me he is not even Joey Barton.

  • TaintlessRed says:

    Judgement? First touch and initial movement? Suso’s your man. I think Suso has many more similarities to Wilshere than Henderson. The main differences is that Suso is always played out wide (although for Spain U19 he often played centrally like Wilshere) and Suso is yet to show relish for tackling (something that Jack seems to enjoy despite his small stature).

  • redrum says:

    Lets be honest here , and not totally biased . I like Henderson – I think he is decent , but he is nowhere near the same class as Wiltshire

  • SuaRed says:

    Wiltshire is overrated. Henderson is underrated.

    The only thing you got right here was about hendersons judgement.

  • bmfoley says:

    I agree with this. I am big fan of Jordan Henderson I am confident he is going to be key for us in the future.

  • Micah says:

    I wasn’t really a fan of him before, one of those who were quite critical of him. But i think he’s improved a lot over the last couple of months.

    BR has finally given him a proper runs of games over his ‘lover boy’ and he’s flourishing. He still needs tends to go for those safe passes, if he could be a bit more incisive he could be briliant for us over years. And i think he’s best used as a deep playmaker than and AMC. which would give him more time and space.

    He’s got brilliant technique and passing, if he continues developing he could be better than Wilshere. It fair to say his progress has stagnated past season or 2, there’s ome catching up to do

  • scouse Ed says:

    Come on .only a total div would think hendo is even close to JW.

  • Smartt says:

    Suso like wilshere need games at the CMF

Comments are closed.