Although I’ve already had my fair share to say about Jordan Henderson since his debut on Saturday, I haven’t really touched on one of the outstanding issues from his selection against Sunderland.
I, like many, was surprised that the 21 year old was picked ahead of Dirk Kuyt to play on the right wing against the Black Cats. Although it shows the tremendous faith and belief which Kenny Dalglish has in Hendo’s ability, it was always going to be a struggle for the youngster to fit into the team straight away, especially as there were also 3 other new signings who needed to be incorporated into the system too.
As I mentioned in an article yesterday, I feel that Henderson had a so-so debut, and although at times he was involved in some lovely interchanges of passes, he wasn’t a great threat in the attacking third, and lacked the energy and defensive attributes which some felt were missing with Kuyt’s absence from the starting line up.
Still young and learning the game, I trust most Reds fans will give him a fair bit of time to prove himself, but it must be said not many feel that he is currently worthy of a regular starting place. Before the start of the campaign I asked people what their first choice starting eleven would be and Henderson rarely featured in people’s considerations.
This is not to criticise Henderson in anyway though, it is just that people feel he isn’t quite ready for starting every match. A great part of why people feel he shouldn’t be starting currently derives from the debate about what Henderson’s best position is.
should be back at Sunderland…we really do not need him. Waste of 16m
Waste of a ticket if you are a match goer.
No, not Right or centre; best ‘ll be at the bench. What a wastage of 10mn for being English. He is worth of 3mn, ok another 3mn for being 21, rest 10mn for the passport. valued around 6-8 mn.In France, Spain, Holland & Germany there are many such JHs,
Bench. Good utility sub. Glen Johnson/Kuyt right mid, Kelly at right back.
i hope kenny does this.puts glen on rite side of mid,kelly on rte back.he must buy cahill and lavezzi and we will win the lig.hendo must be on bench
you lot need to get behind the manager and his decisions. we’ve signed hendo for years to come, not for the first few games. the young man has played one competitive match and you’re already saying to ship him back to sunderland. absolute disgrace.
personally i think he’s best suited to play through the middle. his best attributes are his passing, composure, and energy. he would work best in a midfield 3 as a link man, preferably with a ball winning midfielder behind him.
however, i think he can play out right if we have the right player behind him. against sunderland, Flano didn’t really get forward enough to support him. Hendo naturally wants to come inside a bit, and if we have Johnson playing behind him and getting well forward on the line, then I think he can be very effective as a right midfielder.
Well said. Another unfortunate side effect of the H&G era seems to be the fickleness of our ‘fans’ these days! Maybe they preferred it back then when we had to sign players like Poulsen rather than up and coming talent?
Exactly. He’s one for the future.
I think he’s been signed to give Dirk a rest out wide on the right, and to give us an option if Dirk is needed upfront. Given time to settle in properly and get into the swing of things, I think he’ll be awesome.
Kenny knows talent.
I’ll agree 100% with everybody here, he’s just good for the bench for the time being, not worth 16 million, just like lucas was 3 years back.. for the time being we have better players than him at the club, so why risk by playing him, rather keep him on the bench and play kuyt or downing on the right, or suarez on the right and acquilani behind the another wasted-money carroll!
You mean Andy Carroll? The player who is tied for 6ths for goals last season after being injured for more than two months and switching teams midseason? The Carroll that had more league goals than Drogba, Rooney, Torres? What a cesspool of clueless fans the world of football is.
bchan has got it right, you lot are a joke and a disgrace.
Go support Man City or Barcelona you fair-weather muppets. Hendo’s only played one game for us and like Carroll, he’s been signed with one eye on the future. Kenny’s building a young squad that should challenge for years, not a “team” of foreign mercenaries on £200K+ per week.
The modern internet fans annoy the hell out of me. If you don’t like what the club does then go “support” your local team whoever they may be, cos I’m sure none of you are scouse.
It amazes me how some of my fellow can be such pr*cks. Henderson had the highest pass completion rating of anyone on the pitch vs. Sunderland.
Have a feeling he will play on the right mostly while he is young and transition to a center roll as he gets older. He is a good player. Anyone who says otherwise is either blind, or an idiot.
I fully agree with you..
worse player: Lucas Leiva
U obviously don watch liverpool much..lucas was one of our best players last season..he may not be scoring spectacular goals or providing assists…but without him lfc would just be half the team..last season he had made the most number of tackles which shows how much he protects our defence and disrupts the rhythm of the opposition…
play him where he want to play
Kenny picked Henderson on Saturday for one of two reasons and both are completely legitimate:
1. He thought that Henderson would have the bit of magic that many player seem to have when they play their former club.
2. He rates Henderson higher than Kuyt. Henderson missed 4 passes out of 32. Kuyt 5 out of 13.
Clueless some fans are.
Only players who can go past people should play on the right and this guy is no Ray Houghton BUT he is a good player in centre midfield – so play him there. Kenny will be trading in 8 players before August is out with at least 6 leaving hopefully not on loan. come on jordan lad
If Hendersons main attributes are crossing/passing and energy, I would play him on the RM… make him our Beckham type player. Ideal for AC!
Additionally he shouldnt get a look in at centre mid: Gerrard (when fit), Lucas, Adam, Meireles (sp?), Aquaman all should be ahead of him!
My current line up for this season (when fit), would be:
Reina – Johnson/Kelly, Carra/Skrtel, Agger, Enrique/Auruelio – Lucas – Suraez/Hendo, Gerrard/Meireles, Aquaman/Adam, Downing/Rodriguez – Carrol/Kuyt
I would be happy with any combination of the above… when you look at the players, i recon that the squad depth is actually pretty good in midfield and upfront!
Part of the problem last weekend was the lack of playing time for that team. I believe that is the reason why we didnt play as well as we could have.