Gary Lineker tips Jordan Henderson for the Player of the Year award
According to Liverpool Echo, English legend Gary Linekar has suggested that Liverpool’s troubles in the absence of captain Jordan Henderson could aid the player in his pursuit of the Footballer of the year award.
The Reds skipper has enjoyed a stellar season as he led his side to the club’s best-ever start in the Premier League. The 29-year-old has been a dominant presence in midfield as Liverpool started the season with 27 wins in their first 28 games.
Henderson picked up an injury against Atletico Madrid that ruled him out until mid-March. The Reds have struggled in his absence with the midfield especially looking clueless. The skipper could only look on from the stands as Liverpool fell to their first league defeat of the season at Vicarage Road.
The loss was followed by another at Stamford Bridge which knocked the Reds out of the FA Cup. The aftermath of this setback led to a number of fans on Twitter calling out for Henderson to return soon.
Lineker also seems to have joined that bandwagon as he too remarked about the difference the Liverpool captain makes in the Reds midfield. He took to Twitter to make the following tweet.
There’s every chance that @JHenderson’s injury could well clinch him the Footballer of the Year trophy. Sometime’s you don’t realise a player’s importance to a side until they’re absent.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 3, 2020
Henderson is a player who divides the Liverpool fanbase. He is both derided and admired in equal measure. Irrespective of where your loyalties lie, it cannot be argued that the skipper has a telling impact on the Reds midfield when he plays.
Ever since his injury, no player has stepped up to take charge of the middle of the park nor to connect the defense to the attack. This has given the opponents time and space to overwhelm us in midfield and isolate our attack.
The lack of leadership in the middle of the park has become a defining attribute to Liverpool’s poor run of results of late. It comes as no surprise that Lineker’s statement of one not knowing the player’s importance until he is gone.
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Liverpool with Henderson is lacking in crucial areas of the midfield. The skipper helps connect the various players and lays a solid foundation so that better players may flourish around him.
He must take as much credit for Liverpool’s rise this season as do Mohamed Salah or Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool with Henderson in the side are solid and well organized. The club without him are a shambles-something on display at the moment.
It should not come as a surprise if Henderson does win the Footballer of the year award. After all he has shown the importance he has on what has been England’s best team this season.
