We need to talk about Henderson...

Played his part in a great team performance today.

Was hustling in midfield and kept us ticking, his defensive play allowed the Ox to be more free just ahead and make the runs he needed to make within the lines.

He has frustrated me recently but he played his part well today.

He obviously is no Steven G.  But it is obvious since his injuries he isn't at his best.  Hope today is a turning point.

Saw the highlights on MOTD and was really happy with what I saw from Henderson. Cross field balls, interlinking play - him, Coutinho and AOO were prominent in each highlight it seems. With Lallana back and AOO slotting into his new position Jürgen may have found a dynamic where Jordan can start working again.

Good on him and everyone today. Hope they have a great Christmas party this evening!

Been ripping him to shreds this season but he played much better today, given that he was in a more forward position at times.

Credit where it's due in that respect. Just need him to stop pulling out of 50/50 challenges and keep edging forward.

He obviously is no Steven G.  But it is obvious since his injuries he isn't at his best.  Hope today is a turning point.

And therein lies the problem. Since injuries etc he has struggled to put in a string of good performances. Probably one of the major factors in this thread. On his day he can be good but he doesn't have his day very often of late.

As you may have gathered I'm not Jordan's biggest fan and have been rather critical of late but yesterday i thought he was excellent, so I'm very happy to eat a slice or two of humble pie,

I just hope he can give another performance next game and thereafter, he certainly makes a difference when playing further forward they thing is tho he needs to do it against better opposition and better players,

Well in Hendo .

YNWA

Helped set the tone early on with pressing and some good forward runs

This sentence right here says it all. 2 votes and one of them is confirmed that he was not even MOTM. Nobody expects him to be MOTM, but captains privilege is apparent here again.

Well I've tried to counter the nonsense in this thread about Henderson and if you had quoted my post instead of picking bits out you will see that I gave him my MOTM vote because not only did he play very well, he again showed great maturity and professionalism.

My comment saying he wasn't really MOTM was meant to indicate that I had selected him to confirm my support for him in the face of some, well some legit remarks in this thread but an awful lot of bollocks as well.If you get my drift.

Well I've tried to counter the nonsense in this thread about Henderson and if you had quoted my post instead of picking bits out you will see that I gave him my MOTM vote because not only did he play very well, he again showed great maturity and professionalism.

My comment saying he wasn't really MOTM was meant to indicate that I had selected him to confirm my support for him in the face of some, well some legit remarks in this thread but an awful lot of bollocks as well.If you get my drift.

I voted for him as MOTM because pretty much everything good we did went through him.
As well as his defensive play and pressing, he was the catalyst for pretty much all our good play.

People think he doesn't defend because he doesn't go to ground; well, IMO if you go to ground these days, you're doing it wrong, or it's a last ditch attempt. Either way shows a lack of control and awareness.

I voted for him as MOTM because pretty much everything good we did went through him.
As well as his defensive play and pressing, he was the catalyst for pretty much all our good play.

People think he doesn't defend because he doesn't go to ground; well, IMO if you go to ground these days, you're doing it wrong, or it's a last ditch attempt. Either way shows a lack of control and awareness.

Although in this thread I have generally supported Hendo I acknowledge he has to be more consistent and a little more adventurous. It's sometimes a matter of trusting the flair players to slip the defenders, play the risky ball a bit more and trust the likes of Salah/Mane/Lallana to pull a trick and get the drop on their defense.

He's the best we have in the position he plays. Wasn't that difficult a game at Bournemouth and it helped the midfield that Alex played well. That combo of Hendo/Alex/Wijnaldum in midfield worked well. Much better balance than playing the fab4. Coutinho's skill is used to his full effect when not having to drop deep to make up numbers in midfield.

We know we have enough to hurt Arsenal, I'd like to see the same front 6, bit hard on Mane and Lallana but Alex has earned a run in the side.

Cut the skipper some slack FFS..

He's actually running forward with the ball

And surprise, he's playing better and having a greater impact on the game.

I did some comparisons with the players' stats on here.

Mo had more duels and successful tackles than Henderson ....  as did a few players.

I did some comparisons with the players' stats on here.

Mo had more duels and successful tackles than Henderson ....  as did a few players.

I've been noticing for a while that Hendo doesn't look for 1v1 duels, instead he waits for another player to pressure and then picks the pieces. It happens so often that I'm positive it's a direct order from Klopp. The stat of his that is very impressive is 'turnovers' I.e. When possession changes hands from our opponents to us. From what I have been able to find, only Kante has more turnovers in the league this year.

He waits for a bad touch and mops up time and time again. Did it at least 15 times at the weekend but picking up a loose ball doesn't register as a 'tackle' or 'duel' in most stats collectors.

I've been noticing for a while that Hendo doesn't look for 1v1 duels, instead he waits for another player to pressure and then picks the pieces. It happens so often that I'm positive it's a direct order from Klopp. The stat of his that is very impressive is 'turnovers' I.e. When possession changes hands from our opponents to us. From what I have been able to find, only Kante has more turnovers in the league this year.

He waits for a bad touch and mops up time and time again. Did it at least 15 times at the weekend but picking up a loose ball doesn't register as a 'tackle' or 'duel' in most stats collectors.

Yep, something Hendo is exceptional at. Looking back at the West Brom match, I felt we struggled vs Rondon and Robson-Kanu as their primary jobs were to hold the ball up and bring others into play which they did for the majorty of the match, but had Hendo played, I doubt they would have had much success.

Yep, something Hendo is exceptional at. Looking back at the West Brom match, I felt we struggled vs Rondon and Robson-Kanu as their primary jobs were to hold the ball up and bring others into play which they did for the majorty of the match, but had Hendo played, I doubt they would have had much success.

Agree, he reads the game well, and is a deceptively big strong lad, mops up a lot of ball without having to dive in.
In saying that, wouldn't mind seeing him go to the ground a bit more, a strong tackle can lift players and the crowd.
Hope to see him continue his good form vs the Arse

I've been noticing for a while that Hendo doesn't look for 1v1 duels, instead he waits for another player to pressure and then picks the pieces. It happens so often that I'm positive it's a direct order from Klopp. The stat of his that is very impressive is 'turnovers' I.e. When possession changes hands from our opponents to us. From what I have been able to find, only Kante has more turnovers in the league this year.

He waits for a bad touch and mops up time and time again. Did it at least 15 times at the weekend but picking up a loose ball doesn't register as a 'tackle' or 'duel' in most stats collectors.

... better get Masch back then Mags ..... he'll go 1v1 and there wont be a turnover to do.   

I've been noticing for a while that Hendo doesn't look for 1v1 duels, instead he waits for another player to pressure and then picks the pieces. It happens so often that I'm positive it's a direct order from Klopp. The stat of his that is very impressive is 'turnovers' I.e. When possession changes hands from our opponents to us. From what I have been able to find, only Kante has more turnovers in the league this year.

He waits for a bad touch and mops up time and time again. Did it at least 15 times at the weekend but picking up a loose ball doesn't register as a 'tackle' or 'duel' in most stats collectors.

The game's changed quite a lot in the last few years, and refs are much less tolerant of sliding tackles, and going to ground in general. A player has to get it pretty much perfect, and even then he runs the risk of giving away a free kick, as we saw with Lovren at the weekend; pretty much a perfect tackle, and he gets done for "hooking" the ball away.
I think this is one of the reasons Klopp likes players to stay on their feet, plus we can get going the other way (attacking) much more quickly if a player has nicked the ball, stayed on his feet, then passed forwards.

You could just as easily call this the 'we need to talk about Can or Milner or whoever...' thread because all of our Centre-Mids are solid but unspectacular players who deliver hard-working 6/10 or 7/10 performances with the occasional 8/10 once in a while. Is Emre Can really any better than Hendo? Is Gigi? Is Milner?

They all look poor at times, usually when we struggle to beat the bus parkers and the likes of Coutinho, Mane, Salah can't get it done. OR when we are over-committing bodies forward and we're getting battered by other teams because we can't sit deep, play compact and do what others regularly do to us.

They're a pretty average bunch, all of them, not just the Skipper. It does make me wonder why he gets his own thread unless it's because he is the Captain?

... better get Masch back then Mags ..... he'll go 1v1 and there wont be a turnover to do.   

Ah Masher! What a player he was. No nonsense and no one getting round him. One of the best signings in terms of value for money we've ever made

So does he get picked for our next game?

So does he get picked for our next game?

No.

Shouldn't be near the 11 he's limitations are far too great to be a starter in a team that wins big trophies.

I couldn't figure out what exactly his role was today.