Liverpool news: Jordan Henderson is finally winning over the England and Anfield doubters

The unforgiving world of social media was awash with wonderment and ridicule when Jordan Henderson appeared on the cover of Fifa’s big-selling annual video game last year...the fact that he was alongside Lionel Messi only made it worse.

Such seems to be the lot for Henderson who has continually struggled to convince Liverpool and England supporters of his worth. Ever since his £20m move from Sunderland to Anfield in 2011 – the fee raised eyebrows in some quarters - he has failed to truly convince the faithful that he is of the highest calibre, a game-changer, a trophy-clincher rather than a hard-working, honest midfielder.

He has never been a player full of fancy footwork, the killer through-ball or 20 goals a season. In fact, his goals return for a box-to-box player is pretty poor (two goals in 26 appearances last season, seven in 54 the season before, five in 40 before that…)

When he was handed the Liverpool captaincy by Brendan Rodgers after Steven Gerrard had finally moved on it was said he won the armband by default. There were a lack of credible alternatives – or natural leaders - in the squad; a criticism that was to be levelled at the former manager.

Liverpool supporters expect their captain to be a match-winner, someone who defines and shapes games, not someone who is carried along by them. Gerrard was, of course, always going to be a tough act to follow.

Last season, Jurgen Klopp’s first, the manager was reluctant to sing the player’s praises even though the team appeared to miss his enthusiasm and drive - almost imperceptible when he plays – when he was injured. The heel problem, which was alarmingly referred to as “degenerative”, hampered the early part of his campaign and when he finally returned he hurt his knee.

This season, though, could be sea-change season.

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Klopp has reinvented Henderson at Anfield and the 26-year-old, who worked on his fitness in pre-season on his own after elimination from the Euros, is now thriving in the No 6 role, the deep-lying midfielder. It is a key position in the Klopp handbook: the one who sits while the front five do their gegenpress.

Last season the German manager couldn’t find the right person for the position – Henderson looks like the round peg. After the early-season defeat to Burnley it felt like it might not work but he has turned it around.

Suddenly he is the one that can be trusted to ping a pass to, knowing he will play the ball on. He is calmer in possession – less hell-for-leather, not receiving the ball at pace and losing it. He has had to adapt but that is something his versatility and his determination to be in the team has allowed him to do.

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“I have been enjoying it,” Henderson says of the new role. “It is not too different, just a little bit more disciplined in terms of defensive duties. I have to think about protecting the team more now. But I feel as though I have improved in that position over a short space of time.”

Henderson is perhaps fortunate that the German midfielder Emre Can is injured because he could have been Klopp’s preferred choice at No 6. Now Can will struggle get back in assuming Henderson’s form holds.

And moments like his wonder-strike at Chelsea will only help. The winning goal, beautifully arced into the top corner from fully 30 yards, could prove to be a defining moment in his career. It felt like an arrival of sorts, the eye-brow raiser for the right reasons. Now for the trophies…

Seasoned Liverpool watchers also believe the captaincy has had a positive effect on him. Henderson speaks with an authority and maturity that was absent before – he is willing to discuss his shortcomings, a brave move as it offers brickbats to the critics.

It remains to be seen if Gareth Southgate will employ the Liverpool captain in the same holding role against Malta on Saturday as Klopp does. Wherever he plays it cannot go as badly as the Iceland match at the Euros which clearly still pains Henderson.

“That is one of the worst places I’ve been in my career,” he says. “Even though I didn’t play I felt very much part of the team. We were all in it together. I believed in us as a team. I felt after the early games that we hadn’t peaked and we could do better, so it was a big shock. We let everyone down. Being in that dressing room after was one of the worst places I’ve been.

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“It will stay with me. I know it’s easy to say you have to learn from those experiences, use that to motivate you so that it doesn’t happen again, but it will stay with the players that were there. It wasn’t pleasant.

“People were emotional. Roy Hodgson was emotional with the talk that he gave afterwards. It wasn’t nice to see. Everyone is human. Sometimes people think we are machines and they can just chuck everything at the manager and criticise.”

Criticism is something the midfielder is used to – but he accepts it and turns it into a positive.

“A lot of that criticism, I believe, comes from the fact people can see we have got quality and a good team,” he adds. “It is just a case of working as a unit. We have got to work as a team to progress and get better.”

Henderson seems to be doing just that with Liverpool. With England, as ever, we wait and see.