Imagine Javier Mascherano in that team, being asked to play "like a #6" as is the new fashion of saying here, or play the "Alonso role". I guess there would be people making one of the best DMs in the game to sound like sh*t if certain standards of play were applied to him. Btw that "I expect Hendo to play the Alonso role" saying is a load of bullshit, for I haven't seen the same posters going on about "I expect Firmino to play the Suarez/Torres role". They're different players obviously, Hendo a lesser one for sure, but just because people compare players it doesn't mean they should be playing the same role or style.
As for Henderson - hardly a world beater, surely not a terrible player as many make him out to be. It's so easy to cherry pick situations during a game to show where a midfielder could've done better, and Henderson is faced with that in every single situation. If he's covering for the right back and a goal is scored in the middle, someone will say: "look at where our DM is!". If our right fullback is exposed on the right and a cross comes in, "why isn't our DM covering for our fullback". For people who don't really rate Henderson, the expectations placed upon him are quite ridiculous - unless, of course, that's the way people find to confirm their own opinions.
Ideally I'd love to see a player in his position that is more comfortable in tight spaces, capable of moving around with the ball - I think of the master of the position, Fernando Redondo, whom I loved to watch so much. However those players are not easy to find, and I can perfectly imagine a successful midfield with Hendo in his current role, as long as his partners are more balanced than the likes of Emre Can. Hendo, Keita and Lallana sounds pretty good to me.
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