The transformation of Jordan Henderson: Is it a fluke?

Sir Alex Ferguson started it, Brendan Rodgers finished it, and amidst it all was a young man left wondering why everybody was suddenly talking about his gait. It’s fair to say that Jordan Henderson could have done without the criticism Manchester United’s former manager delivered in October, but the manner in which the midfielder has performed since only adds to the sense that he has truly arrived at Anfield.

"A beautiful boy to train," was Rodgers’ assessment of Henderson following his excellent display in Liverpool’s 5-0 victory over Tottenham Sunday, with the Liverpool manager having described the 23-year-old as "the most improved player in the Premier League this season" shortly after Ferguson’s critique of the player, contained in his latest autobiography, became public.

Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson is arguably the club’s most improved player over the last 18 months, and he continues to surprise many people with his excellent performances, including Anfield legend Uan St. John, who has been a regular critic of the £20m man

While that is debatable, there is no doubt Henderson is progressing. He has started every one of Liverpool’s 16 league games, as well as their Capital One Cup third-round defeat at Old Trafford in September. Indeed, the only match Henderson has not started this season is the second-round victory over Notts County, but he still made his presence felt by scoring an important and well-taken goal in extra-time having come on as a 65th-minute substitute.

Not every performance has been impressive, but few now doubt that Henderson is an important element of Liverpool’s midfield, providing energy, drive and assurance in possession, traits all seen in the rout of Spurs, when the midfielder made up for the absence of Steven Gerrard through injury with arguably his best showing for the Merseysiders since arriving from Sunderland two years ago, one capped by his first league goal of the season from a position just behind Luis Suárez. Little wonder the former England Under-21 captain is now also back in the senior squad and realistically setting his sights on a place in Roy Hodgson’s World Cup party.

Rewind a little over 14 months and all this would have seemed rather fanciful. Back then, Henderson was unsure of his future at Liverpool following a poor first season at the club – "at times it was painful watching him," says James Pearce, a football reporter for the Liverpool Echo – and with Rodgers keen to sign Clint Dempsey, Henderson was offered the chance to move to Fulham as part of a swap deal. "He told me that he wanted to stay here and fight," remembers Rodgers, and with that Henderson slowly but surely established himself in a side now harbouring realistic aspirations of reclaiming a place in the Champions League.

That Henderson did not take the easy way out and swap Merseyside for a life by the Thames is not surprising. This, after all, is a player who has never had it easy, never run from a challenge. Having joined Sunderland, his boyhood club, aged seven, Henderson came perilously close to not making the grade there. Four scholars from the same academy group were given professional contracts ahead of him and it ultimately came down to a choice between two regarding who would get the fifth.

Is that really true? In my view, the team is clearly more effective without Gerrard at the moment, and if Liverpool is flying high in the league when he returns, it will be delicate balancing act for Rodgers when it comes to reintegrating him into the team.

Henderson is (or could be) the future; Gerrard is in the twilight of his career, and hasn’t scored from open play in over ten months. It’s hard to contemplate, but the transition needs to start sooner rather than later.

Time will tell just how far Henderson goes at Anfield, but what is for sure is that he has already made great strides.