Jordan Henderson rejects ‘cheerleader’ criticism as new England chapter calls

With Jordan Henderson, it is always tempting to focus on the rebound relationship, what he did after his departure from Liverpool in the summer of 2023. Because goodness knows, if the move to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia seemed like a bad idea, the reality was even worse.

Henderson’s reputation was trashed after he was accused of putting financial gain before his support of LGBTQ+ rights. He was booed on England duty by the Wembley crowd. Even after jumping back to Ajax in January 2024, it felt as if the collateral damage continued. Henderson, who is now at Brentford, was overlooked by Gareth Southgate for his Euro 2024 squad, having been involved throughout qualification. It was the beginning of a long international exile.

“I am not going to lie … over the past couple of years I have had some tough moments,” Henderson says. But according to him, it was not so much what he lived, rather what he left behind that was the struggle.

“It felt like a break-up,” Henderson says of the end of his 12‑year association with Liverpool, a period when he captained them to every top honour and embedded himself in the fabric of the club and city. The way he tells it, there was simply an emptiness.

“I couldn’t watch a lot of Premier League games and I certainly couldn’t watch Liverpool. I probably picked the right place for that because I was halfway around the world! Because I was at Liverpool for so long and had such an attachment, I found it really difficult when I left.

“If you asked a lot of players when they left a club where they had been for so long – not just Liverpool – I think they’d say it was hard. With time, things change. You move on. But I would say that was probably the most difficult time.”

Henderson is asked whether, with the benefit of a bit of distance, he regrets going to Saudi. It is the trigger for a long answer, within which he says it was not the reason why he missed out on playing at the European Championship. He does not mention it but the injury he sustained with Ajax in March 2024, which ruled him out for almost two months, was a factor. Yet he does get around to embracing the question. And he does not run from it.

“In hindsight, maybe I would have made different decisions. You can look back and think: ‘Maybe I could have done this differently or maybe have done that.’ But there were reasons for it and I did not do it off a whim. In the end, it has made me stronger.”

This is the bit that Henderson wants to push; his capacity to overcome, to use negativity as fuel. It has been a driving force throughout his career and it has underpinned his latest chapter, the England comeback story under Thomas Tuchel that nobody saw coming.

Henderson had been ignored by the interim manager Lee Carsley for the three camps last autumn, and even Tuchel, who started work in January, admitted he was not in his initial thoughts. That was until the German came to hear players and staff talking constantly about Henderson, his influence on and off the pitch. When Tuchel got in touch in February, he realised pretty quickly that he had to involve him. Henderson has played in four of Tuchel’s six matches and hopes to feature in the Wembley friendly against Wales on Thursday and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia in Riga next Tuesday.

The 35-year-old has been derided in some quarters as a glorified cheerleader – presumably by people who attach no value to leadership within a squad; the ability to maintain standards, to handle the pressure. But he is perfectly entitled to point out that Tuchel would not call on him unless he could bring something to the party on the field.

There is a school of thought that says Southgate could have done with Henderson at Euro 2024 as a young team were buffeted by criticism; a steady hand on the tiller, maybe just as a substitute. Experience may not be glamorous but it ought not to be a dirty word. So many tournament-winning nations have relied on it.

And has Henderson not impressed since his summer transfer from Ajax to Brentford? He has quickly become one of their main distributors in possession, be it from deeper areas or when probing further forward. One statistic from Opta stands out. Henderson has made seven defensive line-breaking passes in the league. Brentford’s next best player in the category has two.

Then there is the Jude Bellingham factor. In other words, Henderson’s friendship with the Real Madrid star, whom Tuchel has controversially overlooked for this camp but will surely recall in November. Henderson hit it off with Bellingham after the latter was called into the England squad for the first time five years ago and it is reasonable to wonder whether he sees something of his younger self in him – the passion, the work ethic, the maturity, the obsession with winning.

Tuchel likes the fact that Bellingham listens to Henderson, which again has been taken negatively; more evidence that Henderson is there for the vibes and not the football. But how can this be anything other than a string to his bow? “I have shown what I can do for England over the years and I am still playing at a high level,” Henderson says.

“Outside, people can think what they want – media or whoever. The most important people are the manager, the coaching staff and the players. Ask them what they think; if I am a cheerleader when I am here. I don’t think one of the best managers in Europe would be choosing me just to do that.

“I am here to perform – whether that is in training every day, whether that is when I am on the pitch. My main job is to be performing for the team and helping the team.”

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