Jordan Henderson limped away from the Samara Arena on Saturday evening offering up a few optimistic soundbites as he went. “It doesn’t feel too bad,” was swiftly followed up with “hopefully it’ll be fine”. But it says everything about the impact the Liverpool midfielder has made in Russia that the admission he had overstretched an already tight hamstring late on in the victory against Sweden instantly spread a sense of dread among his audience.
Henderson, a figure who has rather divided opinion over the years, is established as this team’s heartbeat. The Liverpool man sets the tempo of so much of the attacking play, conducting the rhythm of their forward movement, and is a source of reassurance and calm authority when disrupting opponents coming the other way. No one could match his three interceptions in the quarter-final. The former Sunderland player may not be spectacular, but he is as conscientious as he is combative, selflessly putting the collective ahead of any personal pursuit of the accolades. The kind of player Gareth Southgate cherishes.
The running statistics speak for themselves. He has covered 45.1km in his 385 minutes of football at this tournament, behind only Jesse Lingard (an eye-catching 46.14km in 362 minutes) and John Stones (45.94km in 435) in the England squad.
The Sweden game was the first time he has run less than 10km, though that perhaps reflected the relative comfort of England’s victory against opponents who lacked the guile or aggression to disrupt the victors’ approach.
More significantly, and despite missing out on the armband when Southgate opted for Harry Kane this year, he is also this team’s second on-field captain, the player who barks instructions to teammates as they line up at set plays, directing the runs that have been drilled painstakingly with the attack coach, Allan Russell, back in Zelenogorsk and have wreaked havoc upon opponents from Tunisia to Sweden. He is the organiser, the manager’s voice out on the turf, and, rapidly, something of a talisman.
No other England international can match his current run of 30 consecutive games without defeat, a sequence which started with the 1-0 friendly win at Wembley in September 2014 against Norway.
Kane remains an inspiration, the team’s one truly world-class performer, but without Henderson, 28 last month, England can be shorn of mobility in midfield, and authority on the park. He, like Lingard, Jordan Pickford and Harry Maguire, is the embodiment of the style Southgate has implemented since qualification was secured and the longer-term philosophy could come to the fore. “The gaffer wanted to make sure the team had an identity with the way we play,” said Henderson. “That was an open conversation from early on, and we were all on the same hymn sheet.
“It’s important everyone knows their roles individually and collectively as a group, and the lads have bought into what he wants. I’m fortunate enough to have that at Liverpool, too, with Jürgen Klopp who, for me, is one of the best managers in the world. He’s helped me progress as a player and I’ve tried to bring that here.”
As Liverpool’s captain, Henderson has always encouraged his team-mates to speak their mind, and never considered others expressing their opinions as a challenge to his status. His instinct is less about issuing regular rallying cries. As a result, when he does feel the need to tub thump, his words carry far greater weight. Yet, for all his vocal presence out on the turf, it has been his performances in Russia that have truly caught the eye.
England have not had to confront truly elite opposition, but he has imposed himself at key stages: helping to suppress Colombia’s physicality, or injecting energy when up against Sweden’s defensive stodge. There were times in the first half in Samara when even he might admit his tempo dipped, as if he had taken too much to heart the manager’s pre-match warning that this might prove an occasion where patience was key. But there were reminders of the need to shift possession at greater pace at the interval and, in the 39 minutes he managed after the break before the hamstring tightened, he drove his team on. He provided the urgency, allowing Dele Alli to thrust further upfield into areas where his own game can flourish.
Eric Dier will always be a more natural defender, or a midfield anchor lifted from the old school, but he can look ponderous in comparison, slowing the play to the extent that this team’s principal threat – their pace on the approach – can be blunted.
England under Southgate needed someone slightly more progressive, and Henderson fits that bill.
By the time the 28-year-old had returned to St Petersburg in the small hours of Sunday morning, the concerns over his fitness centred more on fatigue than the hamstring. He is expected to train on Monday and will be monitored through the buildup to Wednesday’s semi-final in Moscow. The thought of him not lining up against Croatia is unpalatable, with that anxiety from his post-match limp far from unfamiliar.
Back at Liverpool in late April, with the second leg of a Champions League semi-final against Roma a few days away, he had rolled an ankle against Stoke and lay on the turf in clear discomfort while medical staff treated him for three or four minutes.
The hush that had descended inside Anfield told its own story. Henderson, whom Brendan Rodgers had been prepared to sell back in 2012, is integral. He would eventually declare himself fit for the return and feature in their two remaining top-flight games, before Real Madrid wrecked the season’s end in Kiev. Luka Modric had helped drive Liverpool’s midfield to distraction that night, and he awaits England at the Luzhniki Stadium.
“To be able to perform on that stage is so important to us,” Henderson said.
“I’m just proud of all the lads for how hard we’ve worked as a team over the last few years to get here. You have to dig in for each other in tournament football.” He personifies such selfless spirit.