06 Mar 2022 09:04:33
Ed0666 what's your thoughts on Henderson this season. Still a great captain but for me his powers are nowhere near the level when we won the champions league and league. I think next season he will be under a lot of pressure to hold his place with Elliott and maybe new players coming in. He was the first name in midfield when everybody was fit now he is just holding on to the 3rd spot Elliott looked great when he came back against Cardiff but I think adrenaline got him through that game and since then his form has been patchy as the long lay off catches up with him otherwise I don't think Henderson would be in the starting 11. I do think Elliott is more a long term Thiago replacement and are midfield needs a younger Version of Henderson.

{Ed0666's Note - I have this sneaky feeling that Hendo is gonna have a renaissance. Write him off at your peril mate. What Henderson brings to the team is priceless. The guy never stops marshaling, the guy never stops leading, the guy never gives an inch. To be honest I’d rather have Hendo than Elliot at the moment. I’m not too sure Elliot is a Thiago replacement not at all.

07 Mar 2022 02:59:46
Our midfield is poo when we don't have Hendo there. The perfect balance in our midfield is Fab, Hendo plus one of the other creative lads.

07 Mar 2022 04:28:25
Henderson has provided at least 3 of the best passes/ assists for goals in any game this season. I'd still have him.

07 Mar 2022 04:39:07
Elliott doesn’t have the passing range or technique of Thiago, and his game is far more about carrying the ball forward and being direct, dribbling and taking a man on is far more central to his game. If we’re looking at who Elliott replaces then, in the long term, he may prove to be the eventual successor to Coutinho. He’s certainly the most attacking midfield option we have.

I think Hendo is being asked to be more positionally disciplined given our fullbacks are given license to rampage - in a different system he’d probably perform better, and be more box to box, but it’s a balancing act and Klopp clearly feels that that part of Hendo’s game is worth sacrificing for the increased attacking presence of our fullbacks.

07 Mar 2022 07:23:31
To me it looked like Hendo rushed himself back from a nasty injury to make himself available for the Euros to then mostly sit on the bench when a longer break could have really helped him.

He's played a lot of football already this season (37 games) and i think a good extended break in the summer will do him good. But like all players he will then have to deal with an extended football league season with a World Cup thrown in the middle.

07 Mar 2022 08:04:43
I think Hendo has got better recently. Just shows the subjectivesness of football I suppose. He is (IMO) Showing more skilful touches and first time passing excellence than what I would usually expect. The energy is drifting but his positioning is always excellent. Spending time around Thiago I reckon.

07 Mar 2022 08:40:58
Elliott came on against Cardiff in a game we were already winning.
You can't compare him to Henderson yet.

07 Mar 2022 09:45:16
Hendo gets better with age, some of his passing this season has been top notch if it was Pogba doing this some people would be reaching for some tissues.

07 Mar 2022 10:57:26
Hendo is a victim of the change in system. We're asking him to literally shadow Salah, counterpress when we lose the ball and to cover midfield runners when our press is beaten. That, ladies and gentleman, is impossible even for NGolo Kante.

07 Mar 2022 11:02:05
At the moment Elliott is definitely no Thiago replacement lad's.

07 Mar 2022 12:55:50
So what do you think he should do FLyPelicanFly? Klopp clearly has Thiago nailed on to dictate the game, Elliot to bring some flair further up and Keita to do the wijnaldum job. The RCM has always been a water carrier.

07 Mar 2022 12:56:33
Unfortunately Elliotts horrible injury has set him back a long way. It was amazing he came across as quick as he did but he needs a season to test the ankle in games and get over it mentally I reckon. You could see I think against Chelsea how he is unsurprisingly scared to get caught on the ball and go in to 50/ 50s and a couple of times he was hopping or limping as if he was feeling something there.

Hendo has been superb at times this season he is looking for early forward passes a lot and they're working most of the time. I think with his old ankle or heel problems I don't remember which he just needs a rest every so often which is hard to give him this season because of thiagos injurys and keita, ox Jones and Elliott not being as good. We miss him a lot when he doesn't play unless we have both fab and thiago In the team.

07 Mar 2022 13:17:43
I don’t think we’ve ever lost a game that Thiago and Fab have been in a midfield together. Including that late run last season to get top 4.

The issue is, is getting Thiago into that midfield more.

07 Mar 2022 13:38:56
Hendo is falling down the pecking order. But he’s far from finished, if it’s the champions league final today, I want Jordan Henderson in that midfield like I did in 2019.

07 Mar 2022 16:20:19
Hendo has definitely picked up form recently and I agree with Ed, he’s critical on the field with his leadership.

With Elliott we need to give him time. That’s why it was ridiculous that he was being tagged as the next Iniesta after one goal against Cardiff! Right now I don’t think he’s anywhere close to our best 11 but hopefully he can get game time in some of the “lesser” games. He’s simply nowhere near ready for big games as the Chelsea game showed. But it will come with time.

07 Mar 2022 16:54:40
Harry, I don't know the answer. The coaches decided that this is the system they want this season and they are still alive in all comps. The argument being that the risk-reward is working right now.

Perhaps the more nuanced answer is that we should be able to mix it up whereby when we're struggling to care for the ball up top and runners are breaking on us, relax the right no8s forward position a bit and regain a bit of control.

07 Mar 2022 21:14:16
Nobody on our team can do what Thiago can do in that midfield. Elliott? The kid is still learning the game and is just back from a very serious injury so allow the kid to regain full fitness first before you crown him. As for Hendo, firm is temporary BUT class is permanent.