Is Jordan Henderson one of the most underrated players in the Premier League?

Liverpool are flying high in the football world. Last season they made it to the final of the Champions League due to their attacking and high pressing. This season, they've added defensive flair to their side and it reflects in their league position.

Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have taken most of the plaudits with the likes of Fabinho and Shaqiri getting more and more recognition. One player who gets a lot of stick, much more than he deserves is the club captain Jordan Henderson. He showed his skills in the great season under Brendan Rogers which propelled him to the captain's stature after Steven Gerrard’s retirement.

He has good passing skills, ability to pull the strings in midfield and the occasional long-range screamer. However, he has often been criticized for passing sideways and backwards more than forwards. He has also been criticized for playing too many long balls.

Liverpool FC v Crystal Palace - Premier League

Graduating in a new role

Henderson was a box-to-box midfielder under Rodgers and an integral part of the Liverpool side in the 2013/14 season. The following campaign he recorded an impressive 14 assists and 7 goals despite a poor season for the team.

With the arrival of Jurgen Klopp, Henderson dropped deeper. Throughout the first half of 2016/17, Henderson grew into the holding role and demonstrated his ability to control games. He became adept at shielding the defence and provided a solid base to allow the more attacking players to flourish from.

Though this was not his natural position, he slowly graduated into a good No. 6 and a captain.

Henderson regularly instructs teammates what to do

Commands respect as a captain

As a captain, he commands the respect of his teammates and he’s often seen directing his peers and shouting at them when needed. As far as his passing goes, it is agreeable that he tends to look sideways more than forward, but isn’t that how most holding midfielders play? Each midfielder has his own capabilities. Someone like Jorginho of Chelsea does play forward balls but isn’t very good defensively. Henderson lacks a bit of this passing ability but wins the ball back with ease and crunches into tackles.

Un-noticed performer

In the recent Liverpool vs Crystal Palace game, which the home side just about got a victory after conceding 3 goals, Henderson put in a man of the match performance even in the first half when Liverpool looked a bit lacklustre. However, the contribution of Mo Salah, who scored a brace, got more praise than the Captain’s performance. Obviously, Salah put in a brilliant performance on a rare bad day for Liverpool, but Henderson should also have received adequate praise. Henderson managed 114 passes in the game, with a success rate of 94%. Defensively, he won the ball back thrice at crucial junctures, misplaced just 1 tackle and boasted a tackle success rate of 75%. He also won 1 ariel duel and lost possession just once over the course of 90 minutes.

He may not be the flashiest midfielder like Pogba or Torreira but brings his own game to the field. Agreed that he has the trait of trying long passes, but he delivers them with utmost precision. And because he performs the dirty work of tracking back, becoming the third centre back when needed and keeping possession, his contributions always go under the radar. What cannot be doubted is his work rate and hard work. Hopefully, he starts getting praise for his gameplay and his doubters can realise what he brings to the team.