I think most Liverpool fans will agree that we saw a massive improvement in the performances of Jordan Henderson, if we compare how he played last season to the season before. He’s gone from the player who nobody wanted to see playing, to the player most Liverpool fans, myself included, hope will be in the starting eleven when the team is announced.
However, there is one question that I’d ask those fans; where is he going to play? Judging by last season, Brendan Rodgers, regardless of the system he plays whether it be 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or 5-3-2, likes to have three midfielders. That’s the way he sets his teams out, but it means Jordan Henderson may struggle to make the first choice midfield on a regular basis if Rodgers sticks to what I believe will be his preferred midfield pairing of Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard in behind Philippe Coutinho, who looks like he’s nailed down the advanced central role.
Obviously, injuries and suspensions can and likely will happen to one or more of the aforementioned three players, in which case Henderson will have a chance to compete with Joe Allen and any possible future additions for a place in the side. However, I can’t see where he will regularly play in our midfield, especially as Rodgers doesn’t seem to favour rotation in the midfield, a point which is illustrated with how Gerrard and Lucas played virtually every league game when they were fit. Added to this is the fact that we have no European football this season, so there are less chances to give Henderson minutes on the pitch, if like I suspect, he won’t be part of Brendan’s favoured midfield.
There is another option, and it’s one I am in favour of, and that is Henderson replacing Stewart Downing as the right sided player in the forward three. I understand that it isn’t his natural position, and that he played wide under Kenny Dalglish and struggled, however under Kenny he was asked to stay wide and provide width, but that wouldn’t be the case if he played wide in a front three. He would have licence to cut inside and also make runs into space in the middle of the pitch – a skill of his that I believe is very underrated. He is more of a goal threat than Downing too, and we desperately lacked goals from the former Aston Villa man last season, who looked to be the odd man out in our front four. Henderson also seems to link well with the likes of Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez – although whether the Uruguayan will be with the Reds next season is a whole other issue.
As a front four; Sturridge, Coutinho, Henderson and Suarez ticks pretty much all the boxes but the main positive in my opinion is that all four players are interchangeable, which is something that can’t be said of a forward quartet containing Stewart Downing as he looks to stay wide and rarely comes central to collect the ball. All four players are comfortable in both wide and central positions, and it would be so difficult for defenders to pick any of the four players up as they move across the pitch.
Furthermore, Liverpool would be able to exploit any weaknesses in an opposition defence by lining up their own players against defenders in battles that suit the Reds. Fluidity in attack is becoming a key ingredient to success in the modern game and a rigid formation is becoming a thing of the past – unless of course you are the manager of the England national team, in which case you’ll love a good, stiff 4-4-2.
An interchangeable front four offers so many possibilities for Liverpool, and for Rodgers, however this is all hypothetical as Liverpool look likely to add an attacking player this summer and a new signing or two, or the sale of Suarez could completely alter everything above. However, regardless of incomings or outgoings, I would really like to see Henderson in the side and wide right, with the license to roam seems a perfect fit to me.
Whether Brendan Rodgers agrees, well, we’ll have to wait and see.
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