There’s always fierce competition for spots in the middle of the park, but Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson is hoping that his performances alongside England skipper Steven Gerrard will convince England boss Roy Hodgson to keep their partnership alive at the World Cup in Brazil next month.
The 23-year old’s all-action style of play has earned him a number of fans on Merseyside, and with Gerrard set for a more withdrawn role, it could very well be the perfect combination as the Three Lions look for success in South America. “Since I’ve been at Liverpool Stevie helped me a lot personally – on the field you pick up little things, training with him every week has really been a help to me” Henderson explained ahead of Friday’s friendly with Peru. “We’ve got to keep that relationship going as long as possible and hopefully bring it to England.”
Along with Gerrard, Henderson is joined by fellow Reds Daniel Sturridge, Glen Johnson and Raheem Sterling and he says that the Anfield connection are “full of confidence” and “raring to go” ahead of England’s first Group Stage match with Italy on June 14th — though he’s not sure that he’ll even be in the starting eleven.
“Me and Stevie have played through the season together and it’s worked really well at times” he continued. “But when we come with England its different, I think it’s up to the manager to decide whatever team he wants to put out.” Hodgson has a lot of options at his disposal and will likely experiment a little bit with different partnership’s in England’s friendly matches in the build-up to the tournament proper. We’ll have to wait and see if he does the right thing and hands Henderson a starting berth alongside Gerrard.
