Why Jordan Henderson is Hugely Underrated

Opposition fans see Jordan Henderson as a side to side merchant, who is carried by arguably the best Liverpool team of all time and isn’t that important to the Liverpool side but they could not be any more wrong. Similar to Sergio Busquets, if you were only to watch him you would realise just how important he is to the game. Henderson is the player that allows Liverpool to play the free-flowing, dynamic football that they do, always covering for the flying fullbacks and his range of passing and vision is not too dissimilar to Steven Gerrard, the man he took the captains armband from and has certainly carried on his legacy if not surpassed it by winning the league, something Gerrard failed to do. For someone who was close to joining Fulham and would have seen Clint Dempsey going the other way, to bounce back, regroup and do what he has for Liverpool shows a test of character that players lack in the modern game.

What football fans need to understand is that stats don’t show how good or bad a player is. James Milner and Peter Crouch have more assists than Paul Scholes, that does not mean they are better players. Henderson may not score 25 goals a season or 20 assists a season, but what he does for his team allows other players to create chances and is influential for how Liverpool play. Fans see stats and that is how they base their opinion of a player, watch the games and that is when you will realise how important players like Jordan Henderson are to the big teams.

Pogba or Bruno? Henderson or Thiago? Why do supporters compare two players that play for their club? Many Liverpool fans do not put Henderson in their midfield but when he wasn’t in the Liverpool side last season is when Liverpool was at their most vulnerable. Henderson is not the best midfielder in the world, of course, but when it comes to being underrated and disrespected, you will struggle to find someone close to him. I understand that Chelsea, United or even Villa fans are going to say that a rival player is better than one of their own but you can admit that a player is good without comparing. Similar to the Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes Debate, it is all about which you prefer and who you support, there can never be a correct answer to a football debate and for some, they will never accept that Jordan Henderson is a quality player or that Bruno Fernandes is not a “Penalty Merchant”.

If Liverpool are to win the league next season they are going to need Jordan Henderson to play as many games as possible and his goal for England against Ukraine has shown that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

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