You say it yourself, you don't know wat Klopp asks Henderson to do, neither does the
guest writer of that article. It's all just guesswork really, certainly with regards to his positioning. Interesting article nonetheless.
The things I agree with: Henderson the passer and Henderson under pressure.
1. Henderson the passerWe all know that, if given the time, Henderson is a good passer of the ball and Robby The Z posted an article in the "Malfunctioning midfield" topic with regards to his passing statistics. His passing has been a bit more adventurous this season and he's creating chances, so that's a good thing.
2. Henderson under pressureAs the writer says, our #8's (in a 4-3-3) are able to receive the ball facing our own goalkeeper and turn away from pressure into space (Wijnaldum, Lallana, Coutinho), that's something you'll very rarely see Henderson do. Either he passes it out wide to one of the full backs or it goes back to the CB (in that situation, not when he has the pitch in front of him). That's why the shouts for Henderson to be an #8 in this system are understandable, but it wouldn't work. He's no good under pressure and our #8's invite pressure to then beat the man and create space in behind where then an other player has to step out of his formation, creating space again for our players.
Things would be different in a 4-2-3-1 where I think he could be the #8 / box-to-box midfielder. Problem being that we don't have a genuine #6 (A Dier, Matic, Kante, ...) to sit next to him and that he's our best shout as a #6 in both the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1.
The things I don't agree with, this will be some guesswork of my own (so completely my own view):
Henderson's positioning in the examples he gives. As I said, neither of us, that includes the writer, know which instructions Klopp gives to Henderson. With that in mind, Henderson strikes me as a player who you can give a set of instructions and he'll do his absolute best to execute these instructions.
If Klopp would have an issue with Henderson's positioning in such a vital position, then why does he keep playing Henderson there and why hasn't he looked at a replacement in the two and a half seasons he has been here? Henderson has been our deepest midfielder ever since Klopp has arrived. That leads me to believe that Henderson is doing what Klopp is asking him to do and that Klopp doesn't see Henderson as an issue at all, given he rarely gets rotated compared to our other midfielders.
1. Reactive or proactiveThe writer says himself that Klopp had changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation to give the defence more protection. The midfielders are there to keep the center closed and protect the CB's / the middle of the pitch. Midfield rotation and the covering positions / areas you have to cover, are from my understanding, different. If we had been playing a 4-3-3, the player that would've been on the right of the midfield three, would've been the one giving cover to Gomez with the other two midfielders coming over and staying more central.
However, isn't it different in a 4-2-3-1? Why would you want your #6 to leave his position in front of the CB's, protecting the middle, to go over and cover the right back area? Wasn't one of the criticisms of Henderson that he too often goes chasing (in a 4-3-3) instead of holding his position in front of the defenders? Yet that's what the writer wants him to do in this situation, while playing a 4-2-3-1? What I would think in that situation is that the defence should shift: Matip comes over, Lovren shifts, Moreno shifts, Henderson's movement suggests he's still on the move to be where he should be and Can also shifts to get closer to Henderson and protect the middle.
For me an other issue there is the distance between Henderson and Can. In a 4-2-3-1, they should be closer together and working more as a pair. Also if Henderson vacates his position there, who fills in for him in the middle? Can on his own? Gomez? Do we want our #10 defending on the edge of the box?
2. Covering his full backThe same applies to this situation.
That game was more of a 4-3-3 again, you can clearly so our three midfielders lined up in front of your defence. If the Spartak player wants to play that ball, it's a high risk one. Both Moreno and Salah are cutting off the passing lane, if he passes, either Moreno blocks or Salah intercepts. If it gets past both, Lovren can step out and make the clearance, if the pass is too hard, the goalkeeper likely collects. Salah is the one covering there and helping Moreno with the overlap. So I don't really see too much wrong with Henderon's positioning there, perhaps a yard or two deeper? Anyone else maybe any thoughts?
Again, I don't really see what's wrong? The man on the ball has two options: play it back, we move up the pitch or play it into the corner towards the corner flag. All our players are cutting off the other passing lanes. If the ball gets played into the corner, Salah is in the right position to go defend there and Henderson would move towards the blue line I put on the image to defend that area. Lovren and Matip are also clearly shouting at Henderson to let him know the player is coming and you can see Henderson checking over his left shoulder.
He mentions Henderson should be goalside of the player, but why is Can not being mentioned? Can someone tell me what it is exactly he is doing there? Shouldn't he be goal side of the player close to him? Gomez and Lovren both marking the attackers with Matip the free man in the middle.