da dobrowin： [ad_pod ]
da bet sport： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
In the past, an accusation thrown at England players was that they performed better for their clubs than they did for the national team, and it could be argued that was true of players like Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes or even Wayne Rooney.
All of the above underachieved in major tournaments, whilst out of the three only Rooney can boast of a better goalscoring record for his country than his club.
Another player who is threatening to follow a similar trajectory is Jordan Henderson, the midfield maestro who led Liverpool to their sixth Champions League title in June.
There is no doubting that he has developed leadership qualities over the last few years and become an influential figure in the dressing room whom Jurgen Klopp feels is invaluable, but he doesn’t share the same responsibility at national level – with Harry Kane the captain.
Whilst he has become a vital fixture in the German’s squad, Henderson has been in and out of the England team in recent years, and so far he is yet to reproduce the same quality on the pitch in some areas.
The former Sunderland player picked up his 50th England cap earlier this year in a match against Montenegro, but it is hard to pick a stand-out moment he’s had in a Three Lions shirt, whereas there have been several for the Reds.
There is no doubting his commitment and the energy he brings whenever he plays, but despite often playing against weaker opposition at national level, he has been unable to exert his influence on proceedings, with the England boss often experimenting with his midfield as a result.
Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
His average successful passes per game proves that point. 43 doesn’t appear too underwhelming but England have played teams such as Montenegro, Czech Republic, and the USA in that period, and comparatively the 29-year-old has averaged 51 passes per game for Liverpool this season.
A key aspect of Henderson’s play is his tenacity and endless energy, so winning just 40% of his duels is somewhat out of character and shows that his performance levels can dip when in an England shirt, although an average of 2.8% interceptions per match is a little higher than usual for the midfielder.
He may not be best suited to running with the ball at his feet and throughout his career he has never been productive in terms of goals and assists, but even so one of the latter in five games and just two successful dribbles in that time shows he needs to make improvements, and quickly.
[ad_pod ]