I think fans are starting to notice that Henderson's been playing better lately. Clearly this upturn in form coincided with Fabinho earning a starting place, freeing Hendo from some of the defensive responsibility and it carried over even into games where Fabinho wasn't playing. So what does that mean for the future? People have been clamoring for months for Keita or Gini or Fabinho to displace Hendo, but there is a reason why he started most of the games this season when he was fit. Maybe it's time to start acknowledging that he plays because he deserves to be playing.
I often hear fans say they don't know what Hendo actually does on the pitch. Here would be my answer: he is better than any other LFC midfielder at covering space, preventing opposition attacks and being in the right place at the right time. Hendo at the moment is the only midfielder we have who can dash forward to put pressure on the attacker receiving the ball deep inside their half, then have the speed and stamina to get back and cover the space in front of the CBs or help on the wing – and do this repeatedly for 90 minutes. Take away this quality and our game in the defensive phase would become much more pedestrian, fragmented and easier to pick apart. Hendo's preference for tackling while standing up means that his defensive efforts are much less often noticed and appreciated by fans – even though tackling without going to ground is exactly what you should be doing 95% of the time in modern game, for many reasons. He might not win every duel or tackle (even though his tackles won per 90 is the highest of all LFC midfielders), but he is always there, an extra body in every phase of play.
There is one other thing I appreciate about Henderson as someone who grew up watching continental football, particularly Serie A – he is a rare English midfielder who managed to remodel his game very much in the continental fashion. If you watch the Youtube video above, you will find more similarities than differences with some acknowledged European deep-lying playmakers like Jorginho, Joao Moutinho or Max Meyer – but Hendo is a far better defender than any of them. Maybe in his desire to learn this way of playing as a midfield controller he sometimes took things too far and kept it far too safe – my guess it was a natural consequence of his dual role as a playmaker and the midfield bulldog, where he knew every misplaced pass would result in a mess he himself would mostly have to clean up. Now, with the towering Fabinho alongside him, we are seeing a more aggressive version of Henderson, finally seeming to find a right blend of passion and patience. If he keeps this up, the "replace Hendo" brigade will have to wait for quite a while.
Edit: By the way, I just noticed this rewatching this video – Hendo actually learned how to turn with the ball!
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