where is Fed, I miss his post match rants regarding Hendo
Hey Fed. Jordan had a message for you but you turned off your cell...anyway I think it was F**k off.
You see, this actually says a lot more about you than it does about me or anyone else. Let me explain why. You know that I think Henderson is overrated. I've been saying that for quite some time now. And yet you think that because he scored a worldie, that somehow that would change my mind about an opinion formed of watching every single game he's ever played in for us. Because apparently YOU believe that if YOU didn't rate a player, then if you saw that player score a screamer, you would say "oh my god, I've been totally wrong for the last few years, he just erased years of awful performances in one second." This is the Sky generation, supporters whose opinions change based on seeing a fantastic goal.
Hendo had a great strike today and did well overall but far from his best performance. Seemed to miss quite a few opportunities to be I. The right place at the right time which he usually flourishes at. Actually thought his work rate was a little down from his standard.
FLRed has it 110% right here. That game against City was absolutely NOT one of Henderson's best performances. In fact if you take away the stunning goal he scored, which was an absolute screamer, he really did very little. I watched the game twice and counted 11 times when he gave the ball away in stupid places, countless sideways and backwards passes it. Very anonymous.
In fact we had this conversation not too long ago regarding Stevie. Away at Leicester Stevie had a terrible game but he scored a really important goal and everyone suddenly said "oh what a great game he had!" So the obvious question is: if you have a poor or anonymous game, but you score a goal, does it mean you had a good game? the opinion seemed to be split.
but as FL Red said, that game against City was far from a top Henderson performance. Joe Allen was MUCH more influential in that performance, he was everywhere, making really incisive passes, getting stuck in etc. Henderson was floating around anonymously for most of the game. Don't even get me started on the Silva goal, watch it again here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4yM5lZGIa9yWFdFNjZYLVhTdlk/view--Henderson just runs around aimlessly in midfield, watching Silva but not putting in a tackle when he gets the chance, then watching Aguero and running right by him when he plays the pass. You can see Skrtel dropping off early in the move, pointing at Jordan to tell him to occupy the space that Skrtel inevitably leaves open when he tracks Dzeko. Does Henderson drop in to cover? No. He just walks around. Look that goal alone was by no means only Henderson's fault. But it just shows that in a crucial moment he dropped the ball along with everyone else.
So yea. That was not a top Henderson performance. If you want to see a really incredible Henderson performance, go back and watch that 5-0 thumping we gave to Spurs at White Hart Lane in December of 2013. That was the best game he has ever played in a Liverpool shirt, hands down. He scored, but it really wasn't about that. He was spraying passes left and right, dropping balls on a sixpence for Sterling, putting tackles in left and right, he really owned and ran that game. and that was the catalyst for his incredible form on the second half of last season. His performance against City didn't even come close. But of course he scored a screamer so the Sky generation says "wow what a performance." Joe Allen was much more imposing in that game than Henderson, and neither of them had nearly the influence of Coutinho.
So, as I said, my opinions about players are not formed based on one moment, or one game. They are formed over a long period of time. Henderson scored an absolute screamer against City. But honestly, I don't care how much he scores or doesn't score. That's not his job. What his job is, is to impose himself on games and not go missing, to be class game in and game out, and that is something that he doesn't do. He was absolutely terrible for his first two and a half seasons, then last season when Stevie got injured in December, something went off in him and he was unplayable for the second half of last season. This season he's been hit and miss.
That goal doesn't change anything; in fact he scored an even BETTER goal his first ever game at Anfield in his first season. And then he went on to be wretched for 2 straight years. So clearly scoring a worldie doesn't have an affect on future performance. As I have said again and again, Ryan Babel scored a bunch of worldies, but he was generally underwhelming. And not good enough. I mean just thinking off the top of my head, I can think of three of our former players who scored absolute screamers this season---Downing, Carroll, and Jonjo Shelvey. When you saw those goals on MOTD, did you say "oh my god, we were so wrong to let go of Shelvey!" etc? of course not! because you knew that his performance levels were not consistently that high. I mean there are countless amazing goals scored by all sorts of players in the league. That is NOT a reason to rate them (or not rate them) unless they are doing it literally game in and game out. When you look back on Suarez's career with us, do you say "he was amazing because he scored that cracker against Stoke in the League Cup in 2011"? no! You say that Suarez was brilliant, game in and game out, for literally every game he ever played for us. THAT is what it is about.
It was an absolutely incredible goal. But it doesn't really change anything in the way I see Henderson. I'm happy to change my mind about that though; take Mignolet for example. He was absolutely wretched for almost a year on the trot. Then he started to pick up his game when he came back from being dropped, and now, consistently, he's been a top class keeper. Not because he had one good game. But because he had a long line of games in a row while being solid. Forget about what I think, you only have to go browse a few pages back in his own thread to see the countless posts of people saying Henderson's been up and down this season (and that's being kind).
So. I have my opinion about Henderson. I think he is overrated. I don't think by any means he is utter rubbish. I just think he's overrated and not good enough to be captaining our club, which means he will be undroppable from midfield. It has nothing to do with how many screamers he scores or doesn't score. It has to do with his play as a midfielder in bossing the game.
And the way I see it, I've seen more potential from Emre Can in about 90 total minutes of playing in midfield than I ever have from Henderson. Can's first though is always to go forward, none of these immediate one touch sideways and backwards passes. He consistently gets himself out of tricky situations, he puts in a good tackle, and most importantly, he is commanding and looks like he owns the game. Henderson doesn't. Henderson's top trait is his relentless work effort. there's no denying that. But consistent, top class, not just a screamer every now and then a la Carroll or Downing, but game in and game out top class performances---that's way he lacks. And I think Can offers that.
But, we'll see what happens.