Former England international Darren Bent has said that Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson would be in his team ‘every game’ despite his Saturday snub.
The former Sunderland man dropped out of the Reds’ starting line up against Newcastle United, replaced by his fellow Englishman Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Sky Sports pundit Bent, though, would always opt for the 29-year-old.
“He’d be in my team every single week, every single game,” he told Football Insider. “I don’t care, he would be in my team every single game.
“He gives 100 per cent all the time, he can do two jobs – he can bust a gut and get forward and create opportunities like a through pass or a cross and he can just sit in front of that back four, mop up and get about. He is so important.”
OPINION
It’s hard to disagree with Bent, here. Ultimately, though, Jurgen Klopp has so many options in every position on the pitch and central midfield is no exception. With that said, it’s no surprise that Henderson would drop out of the team every now and then. He was very busy over the international break and so perhaps Klopp wanted to give him a slight rest. Yes, Georginio Wijnaldum started despite being equally well-used by the Netherlands over the past week or two, but the Dutchman scored in both of his country’s games over the break and so Klopp probably didn’t want to remove him from the eleven. Fabinho, too, isn’t a natural choice to be snubbed because he is so vital sitting in front of the back four. That leaves Henderson, then. Dropping him served the dual purpose of giving the skipper a rest and allowing Oxlade-Chamberlain to get some much-needed game time as he makes his comeback from injury.
