Hendo's Plaudits

[Frogfish]

Roy Keane on Jordan Henderson:
"We always felt, even at Sunderland, he loved the game.”
“As a young player he went on loan and had challenges there. At Sunderland he did very well, obviously [he’s] a Sunderland lad so that’s a good start.
"[He] goes to Liverpool, which wasn't easy with Gerrard still around the place who was a great player and people try to compare them. He then took leadership roles at Liverpool and been successful, he's done brilliant with England, we've seen all the stats there with the six tournaments, that's all the stuff on the pitch... off the pitch he has done amazing stuff.
"He's a really good kid, his family must be really proud of him, I've always liked Jordan, always liked him as a kid, and I think he's a pretty humble guy.
“In saying that I did meet him a few months ago for breakfast, and I had to pay for it!"

 

[peekay]

Thought this article would be a good addition to this thread.

The substitution of Jordan Henderson may have hampered Harry Kane as he prepared for his disastrous penalty against France, psychologists say.

It had been Henderson's replacement, Mason Mount, who won the doomed spot kick as he was fouled just a minute or so after being brought on.

However, Geir Jordet, a professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, says England will have then immediately felt the absence of Henderson.

The midfielder, the psychologist says, is a "world-leading" support against mind games. Jordet compared the penalty that Kane missed with successful penalties taken when Henderson had been there as a shield against opponents trying to get in the taker's ear.

Henderson, the psychologist says, has "successfully protected Liverpool’s penalty takers for years, making sure opponents don’t get access to play mind games in those last crucial seconds leading up to the kick".

"I'm full of admiration for him," says Jordet. "Henderson, to me, is the type of player that doesn't necessarily shine with respect to his visible actions on the ball. But his significance for supporting his teammates, helping the teammates and being there for the ones who are needed.

"Giving energy when you need that in the team. Giving comfort when you need that in the team. I think those things are incredibly important. And he embodies so many of those qualities."

He added: "I must admit I also looked into his family situation. And when I discovered that he's the older brother, and he had a little sister, I was thinking: 'Yes, this is this is the guy who's been protecting his younger sister his whole life'."

Jordet, who also has a consultancy business working with European clubs, said in his analysis of the game that the onus should be on teams rather than individuals when a penalty is taken.

"I've been analysing the psychology of behaviours in football games for a very long time," he added. "So when I watched this game, I knew what to look for. A penalty kick to me is still a team sport because it is always about how teammates are supporting that player with all the mind games.

"How are teammates protecting that player? How are teammates making sure that the conditions for the penalty taker are optimal? There are many many examples of teams not doing that. And of course, also players at this level are used to doing this on their own and Harry Kane obviously also is a fantastic penalty taker who usually does hit below the bar.

"But that doesn't mean that he can not benefit from support, particularly when it comes to a kick like this, with incredible importance, pressure."

"That's when you want your penalty taker to be optimally supported. So my knowledge is really around that. I'm not saying that he missed because of how the support structure was absent - because there was support there in fact. It's just just a different way to look at it, really.

"The support conditions were different for the two penalty kicks he took, probably because Jordan Henderson was there for the first one and not there for the second."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-c...ne-miss-penalty-jordan-henderson-substituted/