How Liverpool Can Make Jordan Henderson a Goalscoring Midfielder

When Jordan Henderson arrived at Liverpool as a fresh-faced 20-year-old, his age matched the reported potential fee the transfer can eventually equate to.

It was an eyebrow-raising amount that then-director of football Damien Comolli and manager Kenny Dalglish were prepared to pay for the Sunderland-born midfielder who had made only 60 league starts for his hometown club.

Burdened perhaps by the exorbitant price tag, Henderson was then misused and overused by Dalglish in his debut season at the club. For all the talk of giving young players time to settle at a new club and to develop them sensibly, Henderson ended the 2011/12 campaign having made more appearances for Liverpool than any other player.

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Not only had he been used so regularly, few of those appearances were made in his natural central midfield role.

Instead Dalglish played the then-21-year-old as an orthodox right-sided midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation, in the process alienating senior statesmen Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez, both of whom had finished the previous campaign in superb form. No wonder Henderson became a scapegoat at Anfield.

Bizarre though Dalglish's treatment of the man the Kop have since come to appreciate was, even stranger was Brendan Rodgers' decision to allow Hendo to leave the club for Fulham that following summer, but the player turned down the move.

"I didn't want to go anywhere," explained Henderson in an interview with the Daily Mail last year. "I came to Liverpool wanting to stay here for the rest of my career. I certainly didn't want to leave after a year."

Two years later, Rodgers appointed Henderson as the club's vice-captain.

Henderson has walked the talk—"I knew it could turn around and I could get it right," he said 20 months ago.

Influence

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It's no surprise that Henderson's influence and form have followed an upward curve since being moved into a more central position over the last year.

It was the Crystal Palace game at home last season which first saw Rodgers give him an opportunity centrally, having up to that point been his jack of all trades, filling in at right-wing-back, as a "false winger," or even at right-back late in games. Henderson was in danger of becoming a utility man but not finding his regular role.

Thankfully, he took his chance and his form accelerated through Liverpool's superb campaign. Indeed, you could say that his form was an exact pattern of Liverpool's as a team in 2013/14. When he was on song, Liverpool were.

His best game? The 5-0 thrashing at Tottenham—when Rodgers used him in a more advanced role in the absence of Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge. Henderson pressed, Luis Suarez profited was the basic pattern.

Henderson's other standout performances were at home to Arsenal (5-1), when he showed up £42 million Mesut Ozil, and at home to Tottenham (4-0).

He was also influential in the win over Manchester City—right up until the point where he was sent off in the closing stages. As Henderson left the pitch, Liverpool were favourites to win the title that season. The three games he missed saw the title lost. It was no coincidence.

Goals

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On to the new campaign and this pre-season saw Rodgers discuss Henderson becoming a goalscoring midfielder. "This year we’re asking him to get more into the box," explained the boss, as per the official LFC website.

"I would expect him to be getting up to 10 goals this season because he has the quality and tactical awareness to arrive into the area to do that."

Rodgers is right, and it's easy to see why Henderson's runs into the box are an asset that he wants to utilise; that and his energy to press opponents high up the pitch.

That's why it's been strange to see Rodgers make the same mistake Roy Hodgson made with England at the World Cup and play Henderson alongside Gerrard in a 4-2-3-1 formation most often in these opening weeks. It exposes Gerrard's lack of pace more, nullifies Henderson's pressing and forward runs and leaves fans scratching their heads.

That was finally scrapped for the visit of West Bromwich Albion last time out, with Philippe Coutinho actually deeper than Henderson.

One assist and one goal later and hopefully we'll see Henderson in this role more often going forward.

'Advanced Defensive Midfielder'

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Henderson's role is one which Paddy Vidond of The Original Coach terms the "advanced defensive midfielder"—preventing the opposing team's playmaker from getting on the ball but also winning the ball high up the pitch to create fast transitions into attack.

Indeed, it could be mentioned here that this is a role which opposing sides have used against Liverpool in recent weeks, exposing Gerrard's lack of defensive ability in the holding midfield role.

Henderson in the role for Liverpool, especially within either a 4-3-3 shape or the midfield diamond that Rodgers will likely return to using once Sturridge returns to injury, can be an effective one for both the player and the team.

Play Henderson further forward more often and he'll get those 10 goals Rodgers wants from him this season.