Former England international Darren Bent has hit back at his old teammate Jamie O’Hara for picking Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay over Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.
Bent and O’Hara played together at Tottenham Hotspur in the late 2000s, yet have found themselves on opposite sides of the McTominay v Henderson debate.
O’Hara said on talkSPORT on Friday of McTominay that: “I think he gets in Liverpool’s team. I think he’s as good as Henderson, and I think he’s going to be a better player than Henderson.”
Bent clearly wasn’t on the same page, offering this withering two-word rebuke on his personal Twitter account: “I don’t.”
I don’t
— Darren Bent (@DarrenBent) November 1, 2019
OPINION
The disrespect that Henderson has suffered over the course of his career, and continues to suffer, is quite astonishing. Yes, Liverpool paid a big fee for him when they first bought him, but there’s no doubt that he has proven to be worth the money and then some over the years. He is the captain of the club, the chosen successor of Steven Gerrard, for a reason, and manager Jurgen Klopp consistently plays him in all the big games. Still, though, he appears to remain hugely underrated. Even an ex pro like O’Hara believes that McTominay is suddenly as good or better than the Reds skipper. However, the statistics from this season do actually support his viewpoint, even if history and what Henderson has achieved doesn’t. As per WhoScored.com, the Scotland international is beating out his England counterpart in average shots, key passes and dribbles per game, while he has scored and assisted more and is being fouled more often, too. He is more careless in possession, yes, but his average WhoScored rating of 7.09 compared to Henderson’s 6.75 tells you that he’s doing something right.
