Ally McCoist heaped praise on Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson and shared he thought the 29-year-old was a smashing lad.
The talkSPORT pundit opted to share that he was a fan of the Reds captain after Alan Brazil asked him for his thoughts on Henderson only wanting to accept being given the freedom of Sunderland, as covered by the Daily Mail, after he had retired from the game.
McCoist claimed Henderson was right to wait until he hung up his boots to accept that honour and also pointed out that he had been absolutely brilliant in his 2018/19 season.
“I’ve got to say Jordan Henderson is brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” said McCoist on talkSPORT (Thursday June 20th, 7:52am).
“What he has achieved…smashing lad, I met his Dad at one of the England games at the World Cup in Russia as well, I mean y’know Alan I love Sunderland and he is a local boy and to get that honour…
“But even the way he has handled that, he has said look I thank you very kindly for it but could you just hang on till I stop playing, brilliant.
“You look at the difference with what we were speaking about earlier (Jesse Lingard’s social media activity)…
“I think Klopp would certainly not be happy with that sort of behaviour but listen Jordan Henderson is fantastic even in the England squad, when he came into the squad I was looking at him and Eric Dier as fighting for one spot, but y’know that hasn’t been the case for a long time.
“And I just think Henderson has been fabulous, been fantastic.”
Brazil then asked McCoist about some people questioning Henderson’s ability and that just saw the former Scotland international gush further about the Liverpool captain.
“Phwoar, yeah was it Kenny that signed him? 2011? I think it was Kenny but anyway you’re right,” responded McCoist (7:54am).
“I think a lot of his work, he is one of these players who in my opinion is a teammate who you probably appreciate him more than anybody.
“You appreciate the work he does, and the skill he brings to the team and a lot of it will probably go unseen.”
OPINION
McCoist is clearly a member of Henderson’s growing fan club and who can blame him? The 27-year-old featured 44 times for Jurgen Klopp’s side in his latest campaign and helped his team win the Champions League and finish second in the Premier League. Henderson racked up one goal and five assists across his outings, and while those numbers won’t blow anyone’s mind, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a good campaign. Just like McCoist claimed, a lot of Henderson’s good work tends to go unseen. Henderson should be praised for his leadership skills as he was regularly seen barking out orders and reassuring his teammates during matches in his latest campaign. Also, the midfielder would regularly help start off the Reds’ attacks during league games as he would play long balls forwards in order to set his side on their way. In fact, Henderson successfully completed 105 long balls forward in his 2018/19 campaign in the league (Source: Premier League), made 1,740 passes in general and had an impressive tackle success rate of 76%.
