How Jordan Henderson must wish that he could have his time back again.
His decision to ignore morality and destroy his reputation for allyship by moving to the Saudi Pro League (and the riches it offered) was a gross misstep that he quickly regretted. The only positive spin for him was that Gareth Southgate appeared to stay loyal to an excellent servant. Not any longer.
Henderson probably thought that he had saved his international skin in January by hastily arranging a move to Ajax. He has started nine Eredivisie games this season and his team lost only one of them, albeit his performances have been tepid at best.
So went the theory: here were the competitive minutes that he believed would be enough to make the plane, particularly given England’s paucity of other options in the position. Unfortunately, the problem with coming back to an environment in which assessment is easier is that… well, assessment is easier. Southgate and his coaches saw Henderson struggling at Ajax and made the appropriate call.
Instead, Henderson didn’t even make the enlarged training squad from which the eventual group will be picked for Germany. That sends a message not only that Henderson is not part of the picture now but that, turning 34 during the tournament, his international career is over.
It’s a shame for him that it ends like this. For all that Henderson’s presence in recent squads have drawn eye rolls and stinging criticism both of him and England’s manager, he has squeezed everything out of his talent through his on-pitch leadership.
You do not captain a Jurgen Klopp team to Champions League and Premier League titles and be carried along in midfield. Only five midfielders in England’s history have won more caps. He was a platform for others to surge forward, the fourth emergency service of the England team.
Henderson deserved to face consequences for his abject decision to choose Saudi Arabia and attempt to justify it so pathetically. Ultimately, that has come in the most appropriate of ways. He chose to join a retirement league where the money was mega and in doing so has, eventually, retired himself from international football.
Southgate merits credit for this decision too. For months, the tired joke from everyone on social media before the squad announcements was that Henderson would be included because he was the teacher’s pet. To an extent, that faith was justified – international managers like the familiarity of a core group of players they know well, their on-pitch coaches.
That criticism had grown overwhelming, but Southgate is not a man to change his mind due to verdicts in the court of public opinion. To omit Henderson now is a judgement call based on the evidence he has seen recently, and is a sign of strong leadership. Those who are insistent on lambasting England’s manager before this tournament will simply buzz off to land on another cause for their rancour, but this was the right decision at the right time with other, younger, more in-form players making a case.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/XSFGWsO
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