Oh we won a trophy for that? Last time I checked we came 4th. Last time I checked we had lost 5 and drew 12 games, despite only being outplayed maybe 4 or 5 games max last year. Am I supposed to be happy with that? Am I also supposed to be happy that such an ordinary Man Utd side obtaining 6 more points than us?
Since you clearly didn't care to read all my post (or perhaps just don't aspire to more than scoring 100 goals and scraping into CL qualification), I'll spare both of us a lengthy reply.
But if we want to be actual title contenders, we must learn from our deficiencies last year, no? For example, we can't have 62% of the possession against West Brom, but only manage 3 shots on target and a draw. We can't have 72% of the possession against Stoke City, but only manage 2 shots on target and a draw. 63% of the possession against Everton, 3 shots on target and a draw. 68% of the possession against Newcastle, 2 shots on target and a draw.
And so on. You get the point? These kinds of games were the differences between us challenging for the title and being 25 points behind the winner. I'm not here to bash on Hendo. I am just saying that especially in games where we're dominating possession against lesser teams, Hendo has an influence on us not sacrificing a small fraction of that possession for a little more cutting edge, and therefore perhaps some more clear cut chances.
But hey, you're more than welcome to be satisfied with what we've achieved, or think that it will magically improve by doing little different.
So that was your take away from his post? He clearly just disagrees with Henderson being the issue with us not scoring in the games you mentioned, seeing as we scored well over 100 times and I wholeheartedly agree.
Let's go over the games you mentioned and see what the real issue was, because it sure as hell wasn't Henderson.
West-Brom: well that's funny, he didn't even play in that game. Unless you mean the 2-2 draw? Then we still managed two goals and I'd say the issue was defensively, not offensively.
Stoke: could it be that it was down to Gomez and Moreno starting, both returning from injury, Alexander-Arnold playing next to him in midfield and Ings playing in the front three? Not exactly our strongest starting eleven.
Everton: a front three of Ings, Solanke, Mane and Klavan playing at LB. I'm sure the lack of goals was due to Henderson 'reining in' his fellow teammates. Or do you mean the 1-1 at Anfield? The game where we were up 1-0 and only drew because Calvert-Lewin decided to dive and get a penalty?
Newcastle: we all know how we conceded that goal and the amount of chances we missed. We could've easily won that game.
You say you're not here to bash Henderson, yet not a single game you mentioned was drawn due to Henderson 'reining in' his teammates or us dominating possession too much. We created plenty of chances in all of those games and the goals we conceded, we're stupid ones to concede.
You say that 'the directive from him seems to be to keep shifting the ball side to side'. Are you sure that's his directive? Because I think it's Klopp's directive to keep stretching play. Don't you think Klopp would be raging on the touchline if Henderson was asking his teammates to just dominate possession without purpose? Klopp always mentions being patient, waiting for the right moment, keeping the ball moving. That's the exact opposite of trying to dribble players with the chance of losing the ball when our whole team is high up the pitch.
The issue with your idea of allowing both fullbacks and both other midfielders to go forward, is that we will only have three players behind the ball, leaving us wide open for counterattacks. One fullback needs to stay behind or level with the ball, same with the player in the #6 position (usually Henderson) and he has to play it 'safe'. You can't be too adventurous with your passing in that position. His job is to shift play, keep the game ticking and try to avoid counterattacks.
You draw out defenders by good movement and quick passing, not by trying to dribble past your direct opponent, you'll run into the next one who comes out the shape and the opposition will just shift and fill in the empty space. Movement is down to the attacking players and the fullback joining the attack, not Henderson.