Rio Ferdinand thinks that Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson deserves more credit for his passing.
The former England defender interviewed Henderson for the BT Sport Between The Lines show (19mins 57secs).
During the show, Ferdinand highlighted a part of the Liverpool midfielder’s game that he feels is too often overlooked.
“This here, I don’t think you get enough credit for, when you play the ball forward,” said Rio.
On-screen, clips were shown of Henderson’s display during Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final against Roma in 2018.
“Sometimes it’s 5 yards, sometimes it’s 10, sometimes it might be 20. But these type of balls, the effect that they have, breaking the lines, changing the dynamic of the game, I don’t think you get enough credit,” continued the 43-year-old.
The proof is in the passing
A table was then shown which compared Henderson to fellow Premier League midfielders this season.
Often maligned for being something of a ‘sideways passer’, Henderson actually came out on top for forward passes per 90 minutes.
His 21.9 forward passes were more than the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Paul Pogba and Ruben Neves. Not bad!
In terms of percentage of passes as forward passes, he dropped below Youri Tielemans and Thomas Partey to third in the table.
His passing accuracy of 86.5% was again third in the table of eight, below Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic.
All round, that’s pretty impressive for a player who is known more for his box-to-box running.
There are those who unfortunately will never see the full value of Henderson. As Ferdinand points out, he can often be seen as an unfashionable player who doesn’t get his due.
Luckily, Jurgen Klopp knows exactly how good he is. It should be simple really, you don’t play over 200 games in a Klopp midfield if you’re not an unbelievable player.
Having now signed a new deal until 2025, Liverpool fans can enjoy more of their captains sumptuous passing display for a few years to come.
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