Former Republic of Ireland international Tony Cascarino has criticised Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson for his performance for England on Friday.
The Reds skipper featured from the start in the Three Lions’ shock 2-1 defeat in Czech Republic, and Cascarino believes he is taking club tactics into the national team.
“One area in which Henderson is sometimes guilty in an England shirt is playing balls around the full backs for the wingers to run on to,” he wrote in The Times [12/10; Game pullout pg. 3].
“That works at Liverpool, when he has Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane ready to receive those passes, but not so much with England.”
OPINION
Henderson’s passing was certainly erratic on Friday, whatever his desired intentions. The statistics show that the 29-year-old produced a very off-colour performance in what was a depressingly beguiling performance from Gareth Southgate’s side. As per WhoScored.com, Henderson made 6o passes against the Czechs, a tally beaten only by England’s two centre halves Harry Maguire and Michael Keane. However, he completed only 66.7% of them. That is an absolutely woeful tally. He attempted 13 long balls forward, but only five of them found their man. The Liverpool captain also went for two through balls, neither of which was successful. He was better after the break, when Southgate pushed him forward rather than having him and Declan Rice doing the same job in the middle of the park, but this was still a very sub-standard effort from the former Sunderland man. He’ll be looking to get back to his best – if he plays – against Bulgaria on Monday.
