Steven Gerrard's Critics Should Also Look at Struggling Jordan Henderson

The Santiago Bernabeu crowd is notoriously difficult to please, but the Real Madrid support rose to acclaim Steven Gerrard as he was introduced as a second-half substitute. The midfielder is still regarded as one of his generation’s finest players, even if his recent form barely warrants such a salute.

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Indeed, Gerrard has cut a shadow of his former self for Liverpool this season, almost as if still haunted by how close he came to winning his maiden Premier League title last season.

The 34-year-old has shouldered much of the blame for the Anfield club’s struggles this term, with Brendan Rodgers still dependent on the Liverpool captain, even as he enters the twilight of his career.

It’s true that Gerrard’s form has dipped dramatically this season, but his critics should also be looking to his midfield partner to explain Liverpool’s issues. Jordan Henderson deserves a share of the blame, too.

Henderson is viewed as the natural successor to Gerrard at both club and international level. His performances as a determined and tireless dynamo in the centre of the pitch were just as integral to Liverpool’s swaggering second-place finish last season as Gerrard’s.

“He’s someone who represents a lot of what we are about—him and Stevie (Gerrard) are the moral compass of our group, how they conduct themselves on and off the field, how they train, how they work,” explained Rodgers, praising Henderson following his appointment as the club’s vice-captain, as per David Maddock of the Daily Mirror.

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And yet Henderson’s personal issues in replicating last season’s form reflect Liverpool’s own struggles as a unit. The midfielder seems less willing to take risks in the final third, with Liverpool’s creativity from deep suffering as a result.

Of course, with Suarez gone, Daniel Sturridge injured and Mario Balotelli toiling to fit in at Anfield, it could the case that there simply aren’t the options for Henderson to work with that there were last season.

But Liverpool’s decline can be charted all the way through the team, with Henderson’s poor run of form hitting the Reds hard. Without an effective passing platform in Henderson and Gerrard, Liverpool are struggling to move the ball into shooting positions.

Liverpool are struggling for identity in the post-Luis Suarez age. While the Reds were once England’s most dynamic side, now they lack direction, invention and cutting edge. They have become the antithesis of what they were last season.

Nobody embodies that deterioration better than Henderson. The former Sunderland man might not be the most technically adept player Liverpool have, but he is arguably their most important.

Suarez may have been the attacking epitome of Liverpool’s fast and furious personality last season, but Henderson was just as conductive of such an approach in midfield. Much of the Reds’ best football last term was played through the England international.

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At his peak Henderson is among the Premier League’s best. His drive and energy from midfield gives Liverpool a sharpened competitive edge in the centre of the pitch

He is the kind of player most Premier League teams could do with. It’s hard to come by a midfielder who can cover such expanses of pitch while playing an integral part in his side’s passing rhythm. That’s what makes Henderson so valuable to Liverpool.

And yet, just as is the case with Gerrard, he has suffered, not just a dip in form but also a dip in competitive mentality. For a player whose biggest asset is effort and energy, such a decline has significantly handicapped Henderson’s game.

But Henderson has overcome his critics already once before, justifying his hefty £20 million transfer fee with a string of impressive performances over the past two seasons or so.

With Suarez gone, Henderson is now the greatest embodiment of Rodgers’ philosophy as a football coach. When the young midfielder plays to his swaggering best, so do the Reds. Liverpool’s fortunes are intertwined with their young midfielder’s more than most realise.