Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson deserves more credit for just how good he is, after his brilliant assist against Ajax.
That’s according to TalkSPORT pundit Carlton Cole. Lavishing praise on Henderson for his outside-of-the-boot pass for Mohamed Salah on Wednesday, Cole claimed that the Liverpool player is massively underrated.
“Let’s talk about Henderson,” said the former England striker. “How about Hendo’s ball, outside of the boot, in the path for Salah’s goal. That was beautiful. No one’s talking about it, but it was be-au-ti-ful.
“You’ve got to understand, if that was anybody else, everybody would be thinking ‘this guy’s a magician.’ Because it’s Hendo, he doesn’t get the accolades.
“That was a ball and a half, outside of the boot from the left-hand side, right foot, right in the path for Salah to just lob it over the goalkeeper. What a goal and what a through ball that was, he’s doing well.”
Henderson showcasing his full talents
It’s true that Henderson is often pigeon-holed as a ‘workmanlike’ midfielder. In much the same way that James Milner has had to deal with similar accusations, he’s sometimes seen as being nothing more than a means to an end for Liverpool.
While this is true in some respects, it would be wrong to say that Henderson isn’t a quality footballer.
The 32-year-old stood out as an exceptionally gifted young player whilst at Sunderland. It’s easy to forget that Liverpool shelled out £20m on him when he was barely out of his teens.
That doesn’t happen unless there’s real quality there.
Perhaps we haven’t seen this kind of flair all that often from Henderson, but that’s because it isn’t really needed. With players like Salah and Roberto Firmino around, the onus to be skilful and creative isn’t really on the Reds skipper.
Still, it isn’t the first time we’ve seen him come up with a glorious ‘trivela’ assist, like the one in Amsterdam. Most fans will remember his delicious through ball for Salah’s hat-trick goal at Old Trafford last year.
So, Hendo does have this in his locker. And much more besides. Liverpool’s No.14 is at times stigmatised, but the Reds won’t half miss him when he finally decides to call it a day at Anfield.
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