Forest Gump || Jordan Henderson

iftikhar wrote:I think the manager should take long hard look into this lad. I think we could have done better if Aspas and Henderson swapped places with Villa.

Art Morte wrote:I don't know if his versatility is a problem as he is maybe showing more development in some areas than others, like his nose for goals, that seems to have gotten better, making good runs into the box and getting into goalscoring situations. I'm inclined to think that our management are slowly but surely getting a better idea on how to use Henderson the best.

Art Morte wrote:He was fantastic against Tottenham and I just hope we will see him playing through the middle in the future now. Of course it's just one game, but it looked like he really enjoyed his more free role in midfield in Gerrard's absence. That he could really run the show in midfield without having to think "where's Stevie? I should play the ball to him because he starts most of our plays".

An article in express.co.uk wrote:STEVEN GERRARD may continue to prove age is just a number long after his contract is due to expire in 2015. And after more than 15 years as the heartbeat of the club, it is difficult to imagine a Liverpool midfield without its captain.

But as he approaches his 34th birthday, with the minds of Liverpool’s fans starting to ponder the previously unthinkable, one man has shown impeccable timing in underlining his credentials as a successor.

With Gerrard absent, nursing a hamstring injury, Jordan Henderson was destroyer-in-chief in a 5-0 demolition of Tottenham which prompted the White Hart Lane powerbrokers to sack Andre Villas-Boas.

And the fact his all-action performance was played out in front of England boss Roy Hodgson will have done his hopes for making the World Cup finals next summer no harm at all.

It seems a far cry from his early days at Anfield, two and a half years ago, following his £16 million transfer from Sunderland. Back then, despite the fee – or perhaps because of it – he struggled to hold down a first-team place.

Henderson’s story started on Wearside, as he was nurtured by Sunderland from the age of nine, the son of a fitness teacher mum from East Herrington. Perhaps she should take the credit for his incredible stamina – a trait which could be ideal for the rarefied and humid air which England will encounter in Brazil.

Sunderland development coach Kevin Ball said: “Jordan is not only a very well brought up kid, but he was always so willing to learn. He never stopped.

“If the coaches here – Elliott Dickman, myself, or any of the others – ever told him to work on something, he would work on it. So much so there were even times when we said he had to slow down. That’s Jordan to a T. He never stopped working at his game.”

Henderson began to make his name in the club’s FA Youth Cup run five years ago, when they reached the semi-finals. Against Norwich in the early rounds he hit a 40-yarder; in the last eight he came up against future Anfield team-mate Jonjo Shelvey and fired in a last-minute goal to knock out Charlton.

In the last four, Sunderland went down 2-1 at home to Manchester City before winning the return leg 1-0, with Henderson scoring a beauty, although it was not enough to rescue the tie, lost on the away goals rule. Ball, a Wearside hero having played 340 league games for the club over a nine-year career, had seen enough when Henderson turned 17 to predict he had a glittering future.

“I spoke to one of the other coaches here who had also been watching Jordan and whispered, ‘He will play for England one day’. He agreed with me. I never told Jordan of course.

“But there was something about him. He had unbelievable talent, but coupled with such a great attitude and such a level-headed personality.

“I keep in touch with him all the time to this day and nothing has changed in Jordan. He is still exactly the same lad as he was – and for that he has his parents, family and friends to thank. This is the feature of him which makes all the difference: whenever there is a problem, he finds how to fix it.

“He had some tough times at Liverpool at first but, typical of Jordan, he will battle and scrape through it. He always did with us at Sunderland and he has done precisely the same at Anfield.”

Henderson fulfilled Ball’s prediction three years ago, starting alongside Gerrard in the centre of England’s midfield in a friendly against France, but had to wait 18 months for his next cap.

His form at Liverpool this season has been eye-catching and against Spurs he delivered the kind of display so often the preserve of his club skipper. “Jordan was outstanding and people are now beginning to see that there is a lot to his game,” said Ball.

“He has always had a great engine, but Jordan can do everything – he has got a few tricks, can pass a ball fantastically and hates to lose.

“He is a very competitive lad and yet it is the fact he is so well grounded which will hold him in such good stead. He left with our very best wishes. He was a terrific player and, just as importantly, he was a terrific professional.

“Who knows how far can he go in the game? But football has always meant everything to him and that won’t change.”

Hanging up in the Sunderland academy is Henderson’s shirt from his England debut. “Good for the youngsters to see, isn’t it?” said Ball.

“It just shows what you can do.”

McAgger wrote:I saw what you did there with the Sterling thread