One of the biggest doubts I have over the move for Jordan Henderson is about why we are prioritising central midfield when there are plenty of other areas that need strengthening. In my mind, maybe using as much as £20million (if David Ngog is not included in the deal) of our transfer budget, with perhaps £8million more on Charlie Adam , doesn’t seem to be at all logical when we are struggling in positions such as left back and on the wing.
I am prepared to put these doubts to the back of my mind because I trust in Kenny Dalglish ’s judgement. After all, who are we to question one of the greatest manager’s in the game and as he stated himself, he would only spend money on players who he believed could improve the squad. Obviously King Kenny believes that Henderson will do just that.
At just 20 years of age, Henderson certainly has a lot of potential, and what I have been able to gather from some Sunderland fans is that he is certainly Kenny’s style of player. Very composed on the ball, Henderson is very adept at passing under pressure and when tightly marked. Delivering crosses and putting through balls in tight spaces is something that would have attracted Kenny and Damien Comolli to Henderson as he would certainly fit in to the pass and move philosophy that the Reds will be playing under Dalglish.
However, it is important to emphasise that Henderson is nowhere near the finished article. Starting off as a winger who can expertly cross the ball, the young Englishman has found himself in more central positions as he has settled in Sunderland’s first team eleven. According to reports in the papers too, Kenny wants to bring Henderson to Liverpool as a central midfielder primarily.
No doubt, there will be other doubters, like me, about whether Henderson is the right fit for Liverpool . If he doesn’t get off to a good start there maybe fans who get on his back, like they did with Lucas, but like the Brazilian, I hope the youngster has the mental strength to fight through the difficult times and get through the other side as a very talented player
Part of the excitement about his move to Liverpool will be over how King Kenny can mould Henderson into a world class player. Dalglish has a fantastic record of cultivating young stars, and if he gets it right with Henderson, there is no doubting Liverpool’s central midfield future will be very secure after the retirement of Steven Gerrard.
Certainly there will be pressure on the youngster after such a big money move, but if he develops his game and keeps his head when things aren’t going his way, I have complete trust in Kenny that this move will work out the way it is intended. Is it blind faith? We will have to wait and see.
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I think the Henderson signing was for the “long term”. He’s looking 4-5 yrs in the future when Gerrard needs to be replaced.
Meanwhile he’s got a very energetic, talented young player who is better than Spearing. Kenny might offload a couple of midfielders yet,. then it might make more sense.
The Adam signing, I admit, is a bit more puzzling.
Henderson from what i can fathom is a massive talent and an excellent buy.
Charlie Adam is not a good buy at 10 million as his workrate and defensive skills are not up to what is expected at a big club.
To answer your first question, we do have cover for LB, even if it is players playing out of position slightly, and we have Fabio who is quality but injury prone. it also pays not to maybe be held to ransom on the left sided positions, so if you say your priority is a CM other clubs will maybe question themselves before an extra million or two is added to the price, factor in you can not buy from Europe until 1st of July, any early move for a LB in this country will have cost maybe more than it should, and you would limit your options + increase price due to less competition. My personal feeling is that the left sided positions will be strengthened over the coming months, it might be earlier than recent season that we add people though, as the hope is to have the squad together at the start of pre-season rather than at the last minute
Who says he was prioritised? Some deals move faster than others and quite often the biggest deals take longer to negotiate and complete. Are we saying that the signing of Lloyd Jones from Plymouth is a priority over Mata, Downing, Nzogbia or any other wingers we’re looking at? Liverpool fans need to chill out and remember where we were as a club a year ago and then thank the Lord for Kenny.
Nobody knows what is going on behind closed doors. We simply have to wait to see what occurs…
Look at the Spurs game at the end of the season and watch Modric with his quality run rings around us in midfield!
We need help at every level
1 centre half
1/2 leftback(s)
2/3 wingers
2/3 central midfielder
1 forward
Some of our talented youngsters need to go out o loan to gain experience. Henderson has proved hs potential by playing for 2 years in the premier league.
Simple
Liverpool’s midfield – with the exception of Gerrard and Miereles – lacks some quality. Henderson will bring in something new and different; releasing the Manager to apply other different options.
I luv d way kk & comoli sign cos no 1 can tell what our plans are i hope dat even charlie adam should be signed as d second person 2 confuse our enemies on our plans. Then a very young forward before a double signing of wingas before a centre back then a left back with a keeper as back up 4 reina finally another winger as a probability