Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson could become a fringe player for the England team after witnessing an impressive performance from Fabian Delph against Croatia.
Jordan Henderson may not be everyone’s favourite footballer, dividing fan-bases for both his club and country. However, no-one can deny the midfielder made himself a vital cog in Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool machine which almost won the Premier League in 2013/14.
Rodgers’ possible overuse of Henderson during his time at Anfield has been questioned recently, as the former Sunderland player has struggled with injuries for a significant portion of the last three years.
Current Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has recruited some very strong options for the Liverpool midfield, especially during this past summer. Fabinho and Naby Keita are both capable of taking Henderson’s regular starting place and with James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum also fighting for places, the club captain’s game-time could be seriously limited for the rest of this season.
On the international front, Henderson also has reason to be concerned. The Liverpool captain will have watched on as a young England team came from behind to win 2-1 against Croatia Sunday.
Fabian Delph, in particular, was a shining light in the Three Lions’ midfield alongside Eric Dier. Henderson will also know that the re-emergence of Ross Barkley, as well as the impressive recent form of youngsters such as Harry Winks and James Maddison, could well be the beginning of the end of his international career.
Henderson might have some big decisions to make if he is not a regular in the Liverpool team before the end of the season. He will turn 29 next June and knows he will need to be playing first-team football somewhere if he wants to prolong his England career.
England manager Gareth Southgate does seem to trust him, and feel he can rely on him in the centre, but that won’t continue to be the case if Henderson isn’t playing at the top level on a regular basis.
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