It’s fair to say that Jordan Henderson has had a difficult time of things since leaving Liverpool last year.
The 33-year-old gave up an eight-year stint as Reds captain to move to Saudi Arabia Pro League side Al Ettifaq. From there, having grown disillusioned with life and football in the Middle East, Henderson joined Ajax.
His arrival at the historic Dutch side was initially greeted with disbelief and glee as shirt sales soared. But a month or so on, and Ajax are yet to win in the four games Henderson has played.
In general, the Amsterdam club are having a difficult season. Fifth in the table and down in the Europa Conference League, it’s a far cry from their usual expectations.
None of that is Henderson’s fault, of course, he’s only just got there. But that hasn’t stopped the outspoken Rafael van der Vaart from taking aim at him. Speaking on Dutch television via The Mirror, the Ajax legend claimed that ‘nobody will be happy’ with what the former Liverpool skipper is offering.
“The club will now have to see out the rest of the season. They have brought in Jordan Henderson. All he does is to play a little pass out wide, or a little pass back. But nobody will be happy with that,” slammed Van der Vaart.
Van der Vaart unhappy with Henderson
In all honesty, we can understand Van der Vaart’s frustrations here.
The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder often comes across as someone who’s keen to get his name in the headlines with some of his comments. But on this occasion, we know where he’s coming from.
Ajax are a club with terrific tradition, in a number of aspects. Not only are they the biggest side in their own country, but they’re huge in terms of the rest of Europe, too.
More than that though, the Amsterdammers are famed for playing with a beautiful style of football and developing young talents in the team.
Although he obviously has plenty of qualities, Henderson is a symbol of neither of these things.
It was a surprise to hear just how elated Ajax were to have signed the England international in the first place. As a Premier League and Champions League winning captain with Liverpool Henderson is obviously a big name, that’s true.
But he was languishing in Saudi Arabia with a team who hadn’t won in months. Before that, he was part of a Reds side who were quite clearly in need of fresh legs.
Being the character that he is, Henderson will want to prove Van der Vaart dead wrong if he gets wind of his comments. You wouldn’t put it past him to do it either.
Early signs aren’t great though, you have to say. Keep plugging away, Hendo.
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