Liverpool star Jordan Henderson has gone from atrocious to majestic.
Jordan ‘Hendo’ Henderson is the FWA Player of the Year and showed a marked improvement over the past two campaigns that no one in the league can even come close to matching.
Only Danny Ings had that kind of season, at Southampton. But the difference is Hendo skippered this Liverpool side to the their first title in 30 years and their first league title in the Premier League.
Since the devastating loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kiev, Henderson has been a different animal entirely. A complete transformation has occurred in Henderson’s hungry, never say die attitude. And it shows in every area of his game on the pitch.
He has matured into a very solid, steady, driven box to box-midfield marauder. Defensively he could always play and hold his own in Liverpool’s line-up. But where he has made huge strides is in the offensive attack.
Infogol.net has compiled statistics for Hendo’s 2019-20 campaign, which saw him complete 85% of his passes and score four goals while delivering on five assists.
His passing has improved immensely. Now he is linking forward passes and pushing into dangerous areas with the ball. This improvement comes directly from the top as Jurgen Klopp has taken the leash off his 30 year old captain, particularly in this past year.
Just a few seasons before, Jordan Henderson was stagnant in a defensive role and his passing was at times atrocious. It seemed for awhile he could only connect lateral passes or back passes to the defense. But his improvement in this area of attack passing is simply remarkable.
He played some glorious assists this season, while his confidence grew with each match in the past year. Henderson has miraculously materialized at exactly the proper time to save a career that many saw (myself included) as lackluster at best.
Chalk this up to the fact that he played in the shadow of Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, after his arrival from Sunderland in 2011. These are tough boots to fill for anyone. To add to that, he was then he was made captain when Stevie retired from Liverpool in 2015.
It’s a huge responsibility that Jordan has come to grow into splendidly in the ensuing four or five years.
"In 2020, Goal reported that Gerrard said: “Teams can’t function at Liverpool’s level without a cog like Jordan Henderson.”"
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While the same publication also reported that Flamengo manager Jorge Jesus described him as ‘the best midfielder in the world in his position.’
Henderson is a 55 capped international for England, where he has seen four major tournaments for the Three Lions. The 2012, 2016 European Championships, the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups. He is the only English player to be awarded national side POTY in the U21s and in the senior side.
Henderson suffered a knee injury in the first match back in the restart, and would subsequently miss the final eight fixtures. His absence was felt in the midfield, and could be seen as the central midfield engine-room suffered stagnation at times during that stretch run to the title.
Further evidence of Hendo’s importance to the fluidity and continuity of Liverpool’s midfield. His on-field presence and leadership have become synonymous with victories for the men in Red.
Without his direct influence in the side, their efforts suffered palpably at times. The loses to Arsenal, Manchester City and the draw at Anfield to Burnley are further evidence to this. It is hard to imagine the Reds dropping points to the Clarets with Henderson on the pitch.
This, more than anything, tells the story of Jordan Henderson at Liverpool.