Should Jordan Henderson start for England against France?

By Sam McGuire

Football

Sat December 10, 2022 · 3y ago

Jordan Henderson’s inclusion in England’s starting XI for the round of 16 clash against Senegal raised a few eyebrows.

In all honesty, it shouldn’t have.

The midfield trio made up of Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Henderson looked well-balanced in the 3-0 win over Wales.

The tweak made by Gareth Southgate worked well, with Bellingham moving to the left to accommodate Henderson. In the previous two matches, the BVB midfielder had favoured the right side with Mason Mount on the left.

There was no reason to change the midfield unit, so Southgate stuck with it and his faith was rewarded as Henderson and Bellingham combined for the opening goal. The Three Lions kept another clean sheet to make it six goals scored and zero conceded with that midfield three.

A quarter-final clash with France is their reward.

More advanced role perfect for Henderson

Henderson finished the game against the reigning AFCON champions having completed 89% of his passes, he won all three duels and made two tackles.

Jordan Henderson v #SEN

▪️ 81 minutes played
▪️ 1 goal scored (0.42 xG)
▪️ 55 touches
▪️ 89% pass accuracy
▪️ 2/2 accurate long balls
▪️ 3 duels won
▪️ 1 foul won
▪️ 1 shot blocked
▪️ 2 tackles

Justifying his selection & silencing his critics.#ENGSEN | #ThreeLions | #LFC pic.twitter.com/sVSyoMsgwf
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) December 4, 2022

Some had queried whether a three of Rice, Henderson and Bellingham was a little too conservative, but the Liverpool skipper hasn’t had a pure defensive role for his club since the arrival of Fabinho in 2017.

He will occasionally fill in as the deepest midfielder for Jurgen Klopp’s team when the Brazil international isn’t available or is in need of a rest, but for the best part of two years now, he has generally been an auxiliary attacker. The man in the middle third with the freedom to join the front three.

It is why this role in the England team suits him so well, because it is essentially a role he has been playing on a weekly basis.

In previous competitions, Southgate had favoured a double pivot in midfield, either in a 3-4-3 or in a 4-2-3-1.

England tactic switch a contributor to success

This time around, however, the England tactician has opted to deploy a proper 4-3-3. In possession, this morphs into a 2-3-5 with the full-backs tucking inside to support a single pivot in front of the centre-backs.

You can see it in the image above. England are now defending with five and attacking with five.

The wide forwards, instead of cutting inside, are tasked with holding the width while the space between them and Harry Kane is filled by the two other midfielders. Bellingham is usually positioned between the left-winger and the centre-forward while Henderson, in the last two matches, has found himself between Kane and the right-winger.

The England No8 might not seem like the biggest attacking threat, he has just two goals and five assists in the Premier League since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, but the team benefits from having him heavily involved in the final third.

High energy and pressing invaluable

Firstly, his high energy is not something that can be easily quantified. We got to witness how effective that can be inside two minutes against Senegal.

He initially holds his position (circled above) as Kalidou Koulibaly looks to build out from the back. England are set up to press high in this scenario.

As soon as the ball leaves the Chelsea defender’s foot, Henderson races to attack the blindside of the man looking to pick up possession. He pressures him and eventually dispossesses him before looking to play a pass down the line to Bellingham. The ball eventually goes out for a throw-in but England are deep in the Senegal half.

All of this stems from having Henderson higher up the pitch.

Forward runs free up teammates

He helps England defend from the front but he is also happy to be that third-man runner from deep. This is an invaluable trait in the modern game, with so many midfielders looking for the ball to feet.

Henderson referenced this particular phase in his post-match interview. He said that he was free on the edge of the area but Bellingham played the ball across goal.

The Liverpool skipper then flagged this to the BVB youngster and when the opportunity presented itself again, the England No22 found his central midfield teammate and the Three Lions broke the deadlock.

It happened on a few occasions throughout the game. There is another example (above) with Henderson pushing on to give England options in the final third. Had he held his position in a deeper area, this situation would be an easy one for Senegal to defend. Players can focus on Kane knowing they have the numbers to cover the big switch to Bukayo Saka.

In attacking the space between the left-sided centre-back and the left-back, the full-back has to tuck inside to cover and this frees up Saka on the England right. The pass to Kane isn’t the best so the opportunity doesn’t turn into a moment. Had it been better, the Spurs man would’ve had the time to pick out the Arsenal winger in space and it would’ve been a dangerous situation for England.

This would’ve been a rehearsed pattern of play and Henderson’s off-the-ball movement is key to that. But all of this will be fairly instinctive to the Liverpool No14 now.

We see him taking up a similar position to the one he found himself on two occasions against Senegal in the Merseyside derby last season.

In this instance, he arrived late and curled a left-footed effort past Jordan Pickford. It isn’t identical to the opener against Senegal but the comparisons are too great to ignore.

The next example (above) shows Henderson making a run from midfield to pin the centre-back. This allows Mohamed Salah to isolate the full-back while also creating an overload on the left flank. This particular move ends with Henderson clipping in a cross that finds an unmarked Sadio Mane in the box.

These performances at the World Cup might come as a surprise to England fans but Liverpool supporters are used to this version of Henderson, it is one they have been watching over recent seasons.

The Reds chased a quadruple with their skipper playing that attacking midfield role, and he can now help England chase World Cup glory playing that same role.