Jordan Henderson

[the rev leeroy brown]

there is no two ways about it . . . . . hendo has to be dropped to the bench. he screams of no confidence right now. his decision making is rushed, his passing is too erratic and i know hes not a right midfielder but he looks lost out there.

kyut in for hendo with the same line up (midfield to forwards) from last night would be my first choice right now. hendo is unfortunate to have been rushed into our first 11 so soon given our injuries this year and its starting to tell he is struggling to adapt.

[cream]

Aye, the general consensus is that he's much more football than he was supposed to be, he'll be a tidy player without being spectacular. A lot of the stuff he'll do will go un-noticed by most.

[sssiho]

He did okay last night, he's young, it will take time for him to progress. Its just the price we paid that makes us want him to be the real deal.

[Mattshark]

He had an horrendous first half but credit to him for ploughing on and improving in the 2nd.

[Roboklopp]

racist.

Beat me to it.

Agree with everything bar the casual racism though...

[Mostar]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvbkaUdMdFU"]Henderson vs Everton - YouTube[/ame]

[Alex]

You can see from that how bad he was first half. Looked so much better when he went inside.

[Craig_H]

Kenny used to use Houghton as a kind of 'inside right' whereby he'd play on the right but more tucked in, while Barnes went wide down the left. I kind of thought he'd look for the same with Henderon and Downing but oddly, in the first half Downing was coming inside and playing a bit through the middle while Hendo hugged the right touchline.

To be fair, i dont get the whole 'he was **** 1st half' stuff, i thought he was ok and got down the right with Kelly a fair bit.

[Mattimetal]

To be fair, i dont get the whole 'he was **** 1st half' stuff, i thought he was ok and got down the right with Kelly a fair bit.

I'm getting sick and tired of reading negative comments about Henderson. If he was so ****e he wouldn't be capt of his age group internationally. He'll be the better player for being thrown in at the deep end this season.

[Tee]

His passing in the first 20 minutes was dreadful, but as the game went on he did improve. Decent but we really do need better players.

[Shaggy]

Continuously lost the ball and looked terrified. But yeah he improved before the break and carried on 2nd half. Adam should never get in ahead of him. A midfield 3 of Lucas, Gerrard & Henderson is quite exciting.

[Craig_H]

Not sure about exciting. Plus we dont have the wingers to play a 3-man CM AND it would also mean breaking up Suarez and Carroll as a front two, which i think will become a very profitable pairing for us.

If Gerrard has the freedom to get forward, knowing a Lucas is behind him, he can combine with Suarroll ( ) and the trio could be very good for us going forward.

[Tee]

Suarroll?

Oh how I long for the days of Torrard....

[Craig_H]

Suarroll is the future

If Stevie can keep linking up with them, maybe there'll be a chance of some Suarrollard

[JohnDoe]

Henderson was really bad in the first half, and I've been a believer of him throughout the season. He lacks confidence, and it's holding him back, but that's something that naturally happens to young players who have made the "big" move a bit too soon.

There is no doubt in my mind that he has the ability to become an exceptional talent. I really think he can become a lethal midfielder in the final third. He's got a great engine, great technical ability (which isn't always showcased because of confidence) and has the intelligence to know how to exploit space. That usually translates to goals if the player is more confident and fearless.

His weaknesses are on the defensive end. His engine is enough to make him dependable but he cannot perform a tackle to save his life. He also tends to hide in his shell for long spells during the game.

Look at his two passes to Suarez in the build up to two of our goals. When he doesn't have time to think, he usually does the right thing. Then look at his atrocious pass in the first half that has squandered a great chance when he had three better options to create a goal if he was just more assertive in his play.

It's all confidence. It can transform a useless passeger (And Henderson has been that quite often) into a top asset. In my eyes, Carroll has come out of his shell and looked the part, and I'm waiting for Henderson to do the same. Think it's just a matter of time, he needs a goal to make him believe in himself and what he's doing.