Why Liverpool's Jordan Henderson deserves his England call-up

Jordan Henderson

Roy Hodgson has decided to call up Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson after leaving him out of his last three squads. Henderson has played in every Premier League game for the Reds this season, playing in a number of different positions as Brendan Rodgers continually tinkers with his starting 11. Henderson has played right-wing-back, right midfield and in central midfield but is yet to open his goal scoring account for the season. He’s done well for Liverpool but is his call up justified?

Henderson’s chance creation this season

The 23-year-old has created 11 chances in the league this season. Only Luis Suarez (12) and Steven Gerrard (21) have created more. He is yet to assist a goal, though.

Winning duels stats

The former Sunderland midfielder has created more chances than Ross Barkley, Tom Cleverley, Frank Lampard and James Milner who have also been selected. According to that fact alone, Henderson deserve a call-up. The five mentioned, compared against each other in terms of duels won is an interesting one. Barkley tops the list having won 73 duels. Henderson is second with 42, proving how effective his game is. He has been impressive in a creative sense as well as defensively in midfield for Liverpool this season, so it is no surprise that Hodgson has drafted him back into his squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Chile and Germany.

Henderson has performed admirably for Liverpool this season, scoring 207 in Squawka’s Performance Scoring system. That ranks him 6th in the Liverpool squad.

Henderson is well-known for his energy and non-stop running. At Liverpool this season, there have been problems in the midfield area. Brendan Rodgers knows there is an issue that needs addressing and the fans have noticed how well Henderson has been doing. At times, he has done the running that Lucas Leiva and Gerrard are not.

Against Crystal, in a 3-1 win, Rodgers gave the Englishman his chance in central midfield and he did not disappoint. By looking at his heat map, it is clear that Henderson didn’t stop running all afternoon. A typical all-action display from the Englishman.

In the same match, his passing was superb, completing 92% of his attempted 74 passes. They were spread out over a large portion of the pitch, too, proving how busy Henderson was against Palace.

Since signing for the club in 2011, Henderson has been a main component of the Liverpool squad, missing just nine league matches in that time. He only missed one game in his first season.

The faith shown by Kenny Dalglish has been matched by Rodgers who sees Henderson as an important cog in his team.

Henderson has been excellent this season and it is, surely, only a matter of time before he is utilised in central midfield for Liverpool. His England call-up is totally justified. A good decision from Hodgson.