Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Note in OP, 1/09

Augmerson wrote: »

Was just looking up online and Anthony Gerrard who is Stevie's cousin has played U-18's for Ireland. Does that mean Stevie could have been eligible too?

NukaCola wrote: »

Henderson has improved immensely since his arrival. Probably our most important player. He should be a reminder to all not to judge young players too quickly. Certainly proved me and many others wrong I'd imagine.

Super-Rush wrote: »

I liked seeing Henderson have a quite word with Coutinho when he was being subbed.

He's a top top top top player.

hefferboi wrote: »

Jesus I fcuking love Jordan Henderson! Some passion from the lad!

Paully D wrote:

Well, we're 3/4 of the way through the season now:

What are your thoughts/opinions on Jordan Henderson?

Cheers.

Iang87 wrote:

honestly I think he looks out of his depth

Zapp Brannigan wrote:

Largely anonymous.

G.K. wrote:

Promising when played in CM, shocking when played RW.

K-9 wrote:

Nice footballer, definitely talented but I'd say a bit like our other big signings, over awed at the start at the level of expectations. Had a few decent games around December/January but I'm a bit disappointed in the last couple of appearances, probably our poorest player on Sunday.

I've a notion he'll learn a lot from Gerrard playing along side him, maybe slightly over awed since he came back and that might explain the last couple of appearances.

Mr Alan wrote:

I think, although he was overpriced, I've seen enough to think he could be a very good player for us for 10 years. Happy to have him.

Chucky the tree wrote:

Overpriced and since we bought him Kenny and Co have made some very bizarre decisions. He's definitely got the talent but he has been handled very badly by Kenny which hopefully won't set him back to much.

daithijjj wrote:

How about we wait and see where we are in 12/24 months with Henderson?.

9 months ago everyone was telling me he was a right winger when i was a saying he was a centre mid. I think the penny has dropped and he will continue to play central. Lets give the guy a chance to settle in midfield, he is only 21 and nearly played 100 prem games. By all accounts he has a great attitude and is a very good professional and will play wherever the manager asks. He is regularly in the top 2 in our team for ground covered, his effort for the team isnt a question. While not controlling games, he plays simple passes, keeps things ticking over.

At the end of next season he will only be 22, crazy idea but how about cutting the young man some slack and letting him mature a bit in the team.

willmunny1990 wrote:

Limited player IMO.

He has youth on his side but i can't see him becoming anything more than a useful squad player.

Paully D wrote:

I'm surprised to hear that he's been better in the centre of midfield, I've always thought he performed better for us on the right hand side of midfied (as did the majority of Sunderland fans) but in fairness I suppose Bruce, Capello and Dalglish know a slight bit more than myself and other Sunderland fans

I could definitely seen him learning a lot from Gerrard. There's no better player to learn from in that CM role to be honest. To put it into context though, at the same age as Henderson, Gerrard had played over 120 games for Liverpool in all competitions scoring 15 goals (from my quick calculations, could be slightly more or less). Madness really, just proves how good Gerrard was/is.

djPSB wrote:

I don't think it's fair to compare him to Gerrard.

Different types of players.

Henderson will be a good signing for us over the next few years.

In fairness to Dalglish, he has steady the ship big time. Although none of his signings have been excellent, the players he has bought provide a good base for going forward.

When you look at the most successful teams in England over the last few years, they all had a backbone of British + Irish talent apart from maybe Rafa's CL team, but that team disintegrated fairly quickly.

I think Kenny wanted to put that base of players in place to build for the future. So over the next 5/6 years the team will be built around players like Gerrard, Downing, Carroll, Adam, Henderson, Kelly, Johnson, Sterling.

whatawaster wrote:

Of all our "dodgy" summer signings - Adam, Henderson, Downing - Henderson is the only one I'd consider buying again.

I'd give him a 6/10 this season, but I've no doubt he will improve, and at the very least be a good player for us.

Henderson's value may not come from being a great player for us, but rather being a very good player who stays with us for many years. The longer he stays and contributes the less expensive his transfer fee starts to look.

5starpool wrote:

He's better than Downing. Hardly a resounding endorsement

He's young and will hopefully improve to a standard where he won't look constantly out of place as he has done for a lot of the season so far.

copacetic wrote:

He is still mostly potential but is showing more and more for me. On Sunday he created the 5th goal by winning header on edge of the area then out running everyone to collect his own header out and run it into their half before putting in a well spotted if ballooned pass.

He is doing more of the one off quality items to go with the run all day average play he can get caught up in.

Morzadec wrote:

If our aim is to get back into the top 4 and stay there, then that'll mean a of a lot of extra matches. Very few top teams have a set starting XI, so I would see Henderson's future as a squad player - I don't mean backup I mean squad player, like rotated. You can't go in with 2/3 starting mids and hope for mediocre/youth players to do the filling in.

So yes I would reckon Henderson has a future at the club, but I don't know if he will ever be a 'star' in the team. That said if he improves as much between now and 24/25 as Lucas has I may change my tune!

What do I think of Henderson so far? Well, I'll be honest I probably would've preferred if we had hung on to Meireles given the fees involved. At first I thought he was very very poor and didn't see much in him. But he's progressed, and like many have said he is far better in the CM role than out wide. He's got great work rate and stamina, a good one touch, and has shown the odd glimpse of impressive vision and good through balls. I expect this to improve with experience.

I feel there's a lot of areas he can improve on though:

Mentally: It's been mentioned here before, but Henderson has a tendency to go hiding when he's not having a good game. He needs to improve his 'moral courage' as Giles would term it - if things aren't going his way he'd rather not make more mistakes and thus appears anonymous or takes the easy option. This is something Lucas was guilty of at the same age and has improved immensely at the last few years.

Physically: This probably comes under mentally too in some ways. I feel he is still a bit weak in the tackle, and this is a mixture of a lack of bravery and a physical weakness also. He might fill out a bit and hopefully become a greater force off the ball. He covers a lot of ground but I don't think he's the best at winning 50/50s or making a strong clean tackle. Nowhere near the league of Lucas for example (although I know they're different players).

Technically: Has a decent cross, hopefully he can improve further on this. I'm not sure how good his shooting is - I don't know if he offers much of a shot from range, which is not essential but is a nice bonus to have from your centre-mid. He's only got one goal in 26. It's not a terrible stat, no one has been banging them in for us this year, but ultimately as a CM usually playing in a slightly more advanced role and with the odd appearance out wide, you would be expecting more goals in the future if he is to become a top midfielder.

Positionally/tactically: I expect Henderson to improve here as I suppose this is arguably where you improve most with top level experience. Going back to the goals point, I would like to see him getting into the box more and getting on the end of things ala Gerrard/Lampard in their prime. Not sure if it's tactical instructions that see him hang back, or that he's hiding slightly or just doesn't see the opportunities, but centre-mids these days score goals and often get into the box to do so. I don't see Henderson doing this all that often.

If he can improve on all these things he'll be a top player. I'm not trying to be harsh, it's true he's only 21 and we only have to look at Lucas at 21 to see how much you can improve in the next 3 years.

Ultimately my prediction is that he won't become World Class; he'll be a pretty important player for us and will be in the England set up but not a regular starter in which I imagine Wilshere will be the standout young English midfielder of his generation

NukaCola wrote: »

Theres no denying who made a bigger impact today or who the better player is. Lambert is one of the slowest forwards we've ever had. I dont see where he fits in at all. Balotelli still has a way to go mind.

Harry Palmr wrote: »

ITS FVCKING LOAN WATCH!


Texieria - Full game in 1-1 away draw between Watford and Brighton & HA
Wisdom - loan tied for WBA
Alberto - Unused sub for Malaga in 2-1 home win
Ibe - played 65 mins in 0-0 game for Derby - carded for a dive!
Origi - Played full game scoring goal in 1-1 away draw to Wolfsburg midweek plays tomorrow in league
Smith - Unused sub for Swindon Town (just back from injury)
Ilori - Injured after 27 mins of Bordeaux game - hamstring
Ossiadi - Came on at 18 mins as sub in 1-3 defeat to Sunderland
Coates - no game for Sunderland